Arsham Rezaei, Constitutional Activist, Arrested in Fardis

Arsham Rezaei, a constitutional activist, was arrested on Tuesday, October 17, by 'two cars full of agents' in Fardis, Alborz Province. Pouya Jigarvand, a civil activist, announced Rezaei's arrest in a post on 'X', stating that he was detained 'on Tuesday morning' by two cars filled with government agents. Before his arrest, Rezaei had been posting on social media about human rights conditions in Iran, including the situation of political and civil prisoners. As of the publication of this report, it is unclear why this human rights activist was arrested and by which agency. However, he had previously reported on a joint case being fabricated against him and several other constitutional activists and had been avoiding going home in recent months. Earlier, two informed sources had discussed the details of the case against six constitutional activists in an interview with the Persian section of Voice of America. According to this report, the case was opened in the third investigative branch of Evin Prosecutor's Office by the IRGC Intelligence Organization, with charges of 'gathering and collusion' and 'propaganda against the regime' against Ali-Asghar Hosseini-Rad, Meysam Gholami, Vahid Sarkhgol, Vahid Ghaderzadeh, Kazem Ali-Nejad, and Arsham Rezaei. Additionally, Rezaei had reported on September 7 about a 'raid' by 12 government agents 'posing as electricity company officials' at his mother's house with the intent to arrest him, stating that they seized 'all identity documents and bank cards' and took them away. In a video message directed at the Islamic Republic forces, this former political prisoner emphasized: 'If I am currently running away from you, it does not mean I am afraid. I will not leave the playing field to a few hyenas like you.' This political prisoner also stated on the eve of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in custody of the morality police: 'We will see you in the streets on September 16, and rest assured we will stand against you there as well. We are not afraid of anything. We will sacrifice our lives, but we will not give up on our Iran.' Arsham (Mahmoud) Rezaei had previously been sentenced to five years in prison in Esfand 1397 for 'gathering and collusion aimed at acting against national security and insulting the leadership' and was released from Rajai Shahr Prison on May 8, 2022, after serving 30 months of his sentence.