Safa Aili, Mahsa Amini's Uncle, Arrested; Continued Pressure on Families Seeking Justice

News sources have reported that Safa Aili, the uncle of Mahsa Amini, was arrested on Tuesday, September 14, at his home in Saqqez and transferred to an unknown location. Before his arrest, Safa Aili stated in an audio file published on social media that Islamic Republic agents were 'tracking' him, explaining that on Tuesday, after lunch, while heading to work, 'four vehicles,' including a white Tiba, a white Quick, a 206 car, and a simple Pride, had been following him. An informed source also told the Kurdpa news agency that the arresting agents 'raided' Safa Aili's home 'without presenting a judicial order' and arrested him. According to this report, the informed source stated that 'the arresting authority' and 'the place of detention,' as well as 'the reason for the arrest and the charges' against him, remain unclear. The website 'Hengaw' reported, citing its sources, that 'the intelligence forces of Saqqez' stormed the home of 30-year-old Safa Aili with 'five vehicles full of personnel' and without 'a judicial document.' Ashkan Amini, Mahsa (Zhina) Amini's brother, who was with her during her arrest last year, confirmed Safa Aili's arrest in an Instagram story. The wave of arrests of families seeking justice is ongoing as the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death approaches, and the likelihood of renewed protests, which Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has expressed concern about, is rising. Pressure on civil activists, journalists, political prisoners, and families seeking justice has increased in various cities across Iran. In recent days, Farhad Zarei, the brother of the seeker of justice Milad Zarei, Vahid Kia, Masoumeh Azari, Helia Kia, and Amir Kia, four members of the Hananeh Kia family in Mazandaran, 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. Additionally, Mahsa Tavana and Yasin Tayebi-Khah, the sister and husband of Mehran Tavana in Gilan, were arrested but have since been released on bail. On the other hand, Leila Mahdavi, the mother of Siavash Mahmoudi, and all members of the Sepehr Azimi family have been summoned to the Evin Prosecutor's Office and the Intelligence Office in Karaj. Hussein Kia, a relative of the Hananeh Kia family, told Voice of America in recent days that 'the families seeking justice are under pressure due to the anniversary of Mahsa and their children, and security forces want everything to end quietly and without trouble in their view,' but 'the people have moved beyond the Islamic Republic in their minds and will one day move beyond it on paper as well.' He told Voice of America that the 'social authority' of the families seeking justice among the people is the reason for these arrests. Abram Pilie, the deputy special envoy of the United States for Iran, condemned the reports of the arrests and pressure on the families of the victims of the Islamic Republic, stating, 'We condemn this blatant attempt to instill fear among Iranian dissenters,' and added, 'Following reports of the suppression and intimidation of the families of the slain protesters, we condemn this blatant attempt to instill fear among Iranians who have lost much before the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death.'