Clashes Between Security Forces and Gonabadi Dervishes; 'Hundreds' Arrested

According to reports from Iran, clashes between security forces and Gonabadi dervishes continued on the night of Tuesday and early Wednesday. The police spokesperson stated that 'in addition to three law enforcement officers, two Basij members' were killed. Farhad Noori discusses the latest developments regarding the dervishes with Radio Farda. The state news agency of Iran quoted Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, the police spokesperson, stating that 'more than 300 people' have been arrested. The police spokesperson mentioned that 'drivers' of vehicles that allegedly attacked security forces are among those arrested. Previously, the police had reported the deaths of three law enforcement officers in an 'attack by a bus.' Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi now states that one Basij member was killed in 'a vehicle attack' and another by 'cold weapon strikes.' However, the Majzooban Noor website denied the dervishes' involvement in the attack on police forces, stating that the dervishes' gathering was 'peaceful' and they 'were not the initiators of the clashes.' Kasra Noori, a rights activist among the Gonabadi dervishes who attended the protest, also denied the attack on police forces, saying the bus in question 'was parked inside Golestan Haftom Park and wanted to move to the other side; it seems they attacked the Gonabadi dervishes, but the bus continued on its path. If an accident occurred, it has nothing to do with the Gonabadi dervishes.' In one of the videos released on social media, the dervishes addressed the security forces, saying, 'You have faced us many times, but you have seen nothing but respect from us; you know better that we have no guilt.' The Iranian police spokesperson, without providing the exact number of injured dervishes, stated that '30 officers present at the scene' were injured. Gonabadi dervishes reported on social media that an unspecified number of dervishes were injured and 'were transferred to the hospitals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.' The Majzooban Noor website previously stated that three dervishes were 'severely injured.' Farhad Noori, one of the Gonabadi dervish activists, tweeted that 'the IRGC has taken responsibility for the arrest and detention of the dervishes' and 'they are currently transferring injured dervishes by bus to IRGC hospitals.' The IRGC has not yet responded to this issue. The Majzooban Noor website states that there is no information on the status of dozens of detainees. Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, the Iranian police spokesperson, said that with the end of the 'deadline' given to the dervishes at 4 a.m. in the Pasdaran area of Tehran, 'the operation to clear the area and surrounding streets and end this chaos was completed by 4:30 a.m.' Meanwhile, the Majzooban Noor website reported that security forces attempted to enter the home of Noor Ali Tabandeh but were unsuccessful. Noor Ali Tabandeh is the leader of the Gonabadi dervishes residing on Golestan Haftom Street in the Pasdaran area of Tehran. Police had previously clashed with Gonabadi dervishes twice on the 4th and 14th of Bahman this year. Kasra Noori had previously told Radio Farda: 'We are currently concerned about the security of the Golestan Haftom area. We are worried about the privacy of Dr. Noor Ali Tabandeh, and we will stand our ground to the end.' The dervishes' protest on Tuesday, Bahman 30, was held in response to the arrest of Nematollah Riahi, a Gonabadi dervish detained by Tehran's security police. According to the Mehr news agency, Hossein Rahimi, the commander of the capital's law enforcement, stated on Wednesday regarding the ongoing unrest in the Pasdaran neighborhood: 'This is completely false; this area has been 100% calm since last night, and there is no problem whatsoever.' The 'Nematollahi Sultan Ali Shah Gonabadi' order, whose followers are commonly known as Gonabadi dervishes, is one of the Sufi orders that adheres to the principles and branches of Twelver Shia Islam. The confrontations between the security and judicial forces of the Islamic Republic with the followers of this order have repeatedly faced criticism from monitoring and human rights organizations in recent years. The Human Rights Defenders Center had previously written in a letter to the UN leadership that Gonabadi dervishes have faced 'continuous harassment such as imprisonment, deprivation of social rights, and threats' for years.