DUBAI, Feb 9 - Iranian reformist and moderate circles reported fresh detentions on Monday after the secretary-general of the Islamic Iran Nation’s Union Party, Azar Mansouri, was taken into custody along with other members of the Reform Front, the umbrella group representing a range of reformist and moderate forces.
The arrests form part of a broader campaign of mass detentions and intimidation that, according to reporting, has resulted in thousands being held as authorities move to deter further demonstrations following last month’s crackdown on what state and international reporting described as the bloodiest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
State media on Sunday said three senior Reform Front figures had been arrested, naming Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, Mohsen Aminzadeh and Azar Mansouri, who is identified as the front’s head. In addition, the Shargh newspaper reported the Islamic Iran Nation’s Union Party sought Mansouri’s release and said at least two other Reform Front members were instructed to appear at the prosecutor’s office at Tehran’s Evin prison on Tuesday.
Mansouri’s lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) that the Reform Front’s spokesperson, Javad Emam, had also been arrested. Kermani said it was not clear what charges those detained were facing.
"We basically don’t know what caused these arrests, because the Reform Front has not yet issued a statement about the recent events (protests)," Kermani told ILNA. "Individuals may have commented on their own."
On Sunday the judiciary’s media outlet Mizan published a brief statement saying that "four important political elements supporting the Zionist (regime) and the United States" had been indicted, but the item contained no further details about the alleged charges or the identities of those named.
Tehran has publicly blamed violence linked to the unrest on "rioters and armed terrorists" it says were backed by foreign adversaries, specifically naming Israel and the United States as sponsors of those it describes as attackers.
Members of the Reform Front have in recent weeks issued statements sharply critical of the authorities. After the 12-day war against Israel, the front warned that the country faced an "incremental collapse" unless it adopted fundamental reforms. Kermani stated that the most recent arrests were not connected to the judicial case that was opened against the Reform Front following that public statement.
The available reporting leaves several elements unresolved, including the precise legal basis for the detentions and whether further arrests or summonses will follow. Authorities have not published detailed charges related to the named individuals, and the Reform Front had not issued an organizational statement explaining any role it may have played in recent protests.
Reporting note: The sequence of events includes official statements from state-affiliated media and the judiciary’s outlet, lawyer commentary to ILNA, and reporting by a national newspaper that highlighted calls for Mansouri’s release.