Increased Pressure on Plaintiffs Ahead of Mahsa Amini Anniversary; Farhad Zarei Arrested

Continuing the pressure on the families of plaintiffs ahead of the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, some news sources reported that Farhad Zarei, the brother of Milad Zarei, who was killed during the suppression of nationwide protests in the second half of 1401 in Babol, has been arrested. Milad Zarei, a 25-year-old protester from Babol in Mazandaran province, was shot in the back on September 30, 1401, during the crackdown on nationwide protests following Mahsa Amini's death while in the custody of the morality police. The wave of arrests of the families of plaintiffs is ongoing in various cities across Iran as the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death approaches, with concerns about the resumption of protests, which Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has expressed worry about. According to a relative of Hananeh Kia, in recent days, Vahid Kia, Masoumeh Azari, Helia Kia, and Amir Kia, four members of the family of this protester killed in Mazandaran, have been arrested. He told Voice of America that the 'social authority' of the families of plaintiffs among the people is the reason for these arrests. Hossein Kia also told the Persian section of Voice of America that 'the families of plaintiffs are under pressure due to the anniversary of Mahsa and their children, and security forces want to end everything quietly and without hassle,' but 'the people have moved beyond the Islamic Republic in their minds and will one day also move beyond it on paper.' On September 7, Fatemeh Heydari, the sister of Javad Heydari, a protester killed in Qazvin, reported pressure on her family ahead of the anniversary of his death, stating that Frank Karimi, the wife of her other brother Mohammad, had been fired from her job. Fatemeh Heydari tweeted to the Islamic Republic authorities: 'You killed my brother, and now as the anniversary approaches, you are pressuring us to silence us.' In the continuing arrests and pressure on the families of plaintiffs, Leila Mahdavi, the mother of Siavash Mahmoudi, was summoned to Evin Prosecutor's Office on September 2 after her house was searched in Tehran and her mobile phone was confiscated. In recent days, several family members of plaintiffs, including Kourosh Vaziri and Nasrin Alizadeh, the husband and sister of Shirin Alizadeh in Isfahan, Faramarz Barahoui, the brother of Ismail Barahoui in Sistan and Baluchestan, Shahrmin Habibi, the wife of Fereydoun Mahmoudi in Kurdistan, and Mahsa Yazdani, the mother of Mohammad Javad Zahedi in Mazandaran, have been arrested. Meanwhile, Mahsa Tavana, the sister of Mehran Tavana, a protester killed in Gilan, who, along with her husband Yasin Tayebi-Khah, had been arrested in previous days, has been released on bail. Additionally, eight days have passed since the arrest of Mashallah Karami, the father of Mohammad Mahdi Karami, a protester executed in Karaj, and his lawyer. Atena Daemi, a human rights activist in Iran, emphasized the right of the survivors and victims of human rights violations to seek justice in a series of tweets, referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This former political prisoner also highlighted the pressure from the Islamic Republic authorities on the families of plaintiffs, reminding that others, including Shahruz, the brother of Azad Hosseini-Pouri, and family members of Mehrshad Shahidi, Hamidreza Rouhi, Erfan Rezaei, and Kumar Darafteh, have also been 'either detained by security agencies or summoned and threatened' in recent days. Siamak Azimi, the brother of Sepehr Azimi, one of the victims of the nationwide protests, has also stated that all members of his family have been summoned to the prosecutor's office. The father of one of the victims of the protests has also told Voice of America that the families of plaintiffs have been threatened by the Islamic Republic authorities and 'have been asked for a written commitment' that if 'they see them outside and in public places on the anniversary of Mahsa, there will be serious consequences.' The continuous arrests of the plaintiffs of the victims of the nationwide protests of 1401 come at a time when the brother of Mohammad Hajirasouli, another protester killed, has sent a message to Voice of America stating, 'We will not rest until freedom is achieved.' Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has described the protests in the second half of last year following Mahsa Amini's death as the 'strongest struggle' against the Islamic Republic and has warned of its recurrence on the anniversary of the nationwide protests. American officials have repeatedly emphasized the right to freedom of expression and the right to protest for the people of Iran. In this context, Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, stated on July 18 in response to a question from a Voice of America Persian reporter that the Islamic Republic has not learned from recent protests.