The Islamic Republic's Security and Judicial Apparatus Continues to Crack Down on Citizens in Response to the Death of Raisi

Several citizens in various cities across Iran have been arrested or summoned to judicial and intelligence agencies in response to the news of Ibrahim Raisi's death. In this context, the bank accounts of Shirin Najafi, sister of Hadis Najafi, one of the victims of protests against the killing of Mahsa Amini in Alborz province, have been "closed by order of legal authorities." Mahsa Amini was killed in police custody two years ago. According to Fatemeh Heydari, sister of justice-seeker Javad Heydari, another victim of the 2021 protests, Shirin Najafi's bank accounts were closed "due to reactions to Raisi's death." The government news agency ISNA reported on Wednesday, May 23, citing Mehdi Bakhshi, the prosecutor of Kerman, that 288 social media users were identified as "virtual activists and leaders" under the title "The Psychological Security Committee's Response to Insulters and Disturbers of Community Psychological Security," and in addition to "warnings and phone guidance" to 254 of them, "eight others" were summoned to judicial authorities. The Kerman prosecutor emphasized the "necessity of decisive action against negligent or hostile individuals" following the helicopter accident involving Ibrahim Raisi, stating that "any content with insulting characteristics, rumor production and dissemination, or any content contrary to ethical principles and in conflict with the religious and moral sentiments of the country" will be dealt with "seriously and decisively" in court. This judicial official identified the "Fara Ja Intelligence Police, the Tharallah Corps Intelligence Organization," and the Kerman prosecutor's office as the agencies related to this action. Additionally, the Intelligence Police of Golestan province announced that they had arrested two media activists for commenting on the death of Ibrahim Raisi. According to the government news agency Mehr, "two website managers" were arrested for what was described as "the dissemination of insulting content and rumor-mongering" regarding the death of Ibrahim Raisi and his companions. The Golestan Intelligence Police also stated that they would deal with those commenting on Raisi's death under the title of "disturbing community psychological security" through what they termed "specialized monitoring and intelligence oversight of activities in cyberspace." In this context, the newspaper Ham-Mihan quoted Vahid Majid, head of the "Fara Ja Cyber Production and Exchange Police" (known as FATA), stating that the warnings, summons, and arrests of citizens for expressing opinions about Ibrahim Raisi's death were "in line with cleansing cyberspace." The head of FATA mentioned that the police conducted "550 specialized observations" and identified "80 criminal titles" in just the first 36 hours of implementing this plan, resulting in 35 instances of "warnings, summons, and referrals to judicial authorities." Some reports during the government funeral ceremony for Ibrahim Raisi and his companions indicated the arrest of a foreign media journalist. Although no specific details about the reasons for the arrest and the identity of this journalist have been released, a video report showed a group of government supporters gathering in support of this action and chanting slogans. In this regard, ISNA reported with the headline "Public Protest Against the Mischief of a Foreign Media" that this journalist, who was German, had apologized. No further news has been released on this matter. The joy of Iranians over Ibrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash has received widespread reflection on social media, with some users responding to the event with humorous phrases and narratives; these reactions have also reached international circles. In another reaction, political prisoners turned the Islamic Republic's declaration of "public mourning" into "public food" and hosted each other with dishes such as "fall omelet" and "ascent pasta." The happiness of political prisoners over Raisi's death has faced reactions from authorities, including an attack by intelligence forces on them in the central prison of Karaj. Previously, several families of justice-seekers reacted to the helicopter crash and Ibrahim Raisi's death by posting videos of dancing and joy; some of them reported that Islamic Republic officials had threatened some of the justice-seekers, saying, "We will arrest you for your reactions." According to reports received by Voice of America and published on social media, the dancing and joy of Iranians outside Iran in response to Ibrahim Raisi's death continues.