A Protest Couple in Tehran Remains in Solitary Confinement One Month After Arrest

According to reports, more than a month after the arrest of a protest couple in Tehran, they are still being held in solitary confinement at the detention center of one of the Islamic Republic's intelligence agencies under pressure. Following the continued detention of dissenting citizens in Iran, several social media activists have reported that Amirhossein Mousavi and his wife Shabnam Hosseinzadeh, a protest couple residing in the Chitgar area of Tehran, were arrested in late Azar (December). The charges and reasons for their arrest remain unclear. Journalist Hediyeh Kimiaei wrote on Tuesday, January 22, that Amirhossein Mousavi was arrested on 'Azar 28' in Tehran and that Islamic Republic intelligence officials 'despite the end of interrogations, continue to keep him in solitary confinement and under torture.' The account 'Shahrak Ekbatan,' which follows events related to protesters in western Tehran after the nationwide protests of 1401 (2022), warned in recent days that 'Amirhossein Mousavi and his wife Shabnam Hosseinzadeh' are being held in ignorance by an intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic, and due to the 'heavy pressures' that the government's intelligence forces have placed on 'the lawyer of this case and the families' of these detained citizens, no news has been released about them. According to the 'Shahrak Ekbatan' account, which has many followers on the social network X, the latest news about Amirhossein Mousavi and Shabnam Hosseinzadeh is that they are 'being kept in solitary confinement.' Some users on social media have expressed concern about the couple's continued detention for over a month. Previously, lawyer Reza Shafakhah had reported the arrest of an active user with a pseudonym on the social network X on Azar 28 along with his wife, but did not mention the names and details of this detained couple. Due to the restrictions on the activities of free media by the authorities of the Islamic Republic in Iran, Voice of America cannot independently confirm or deny these reports. The detention of dissenting citizens in Iran has been reported multiple times by various news sources, and in some cases, it has even been confirmed by state media. Last month, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced in a statement that it had arrested several dissenting citizens and referred to them as 'affiliated with royalist groups' without mentioning the identities of those arrested.