Mazaher Heydari, Gonabadi Dervish, Arrested Again

The legal consulting and training center "Dadban" reported the arrest of Mazaher Heydari, a Gonabadi dervish and former political prisoner, in Shahr-e Kord. According to Dadban, Heydari was arrested on Saturday, June 9, and no information has been released regarding the charges against him or his place of detention. This Gonabadi dervish is among ten political activists who announced in Bahman 1402 (February 2024) that they would not participate in any of the Islamic Republic's elections. They cited reasons such as "45 years of crimes and treachery by the Islamic Republic," "suppression and massacre" of protesters, "poverty and corruption," and "misery and destruction of the homeland and compatriots" for their decision. Mazaher Heydari is considered one of the detainees from the nationwide protests of "Women, Life, Freedom" and had previously been arrested during the events of Golestan 7 in the winter of 2018 in Tehran, where he was imprisoned for a year. The Kayhan newspaper, which operates under the supervision of Ali Khamenei's representative, criticized the reopening of the central Gonabadi dervish monastery on Behesht Street in Tehran in April of this year, calling for action against these dervishes due to the events of 2018. Previously, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that Islamic Republic officials have systematically targeted Baha'is, Christians, Gonabadi dervishes, Zoroastrians, Yarsanis, Shia and Sunni Muslims, and non-religious individuals for harassment, arrest, long-term imprisonment, exile, or banning from participating in political and social activities over the past several decades.