Three Members of Tabriz City Council and Deputy Mayor Arrested

Hekmat Ali Mozaffari, the head of the East Azerbaijan Province Judiciary, announced on Thursday, April 19, the arrest of three members of the Tabriz City Council along with one of the city's deputy mayors. According to the Mizan news agency, affiliated with Iran's judiciary, the arrests began in the last days of the previous year. In addition to these individuals, two contractors associated with the Tabriz municipality are among those arrested. According to the head of the East Azerbaijan Judiciary, the arrests are related to a case involving charges of collusion in government transactions, bribery, and other accusations. Mr. Mozaffari stated, "The arrested individuals were detained after investigations, charges were explained, and legal detention orders were issued." He added that, in addition to the detainees, ten contractors related to the case have been interrogated and informed of their charges, and they have currently been released on bail. Previously, Hekmat Ali Mozaffari mentioned in another interview that "one of the Tabriz City Council members had promised appointments in certain municipal positions to employees of the municipality in exchange for bribes and had pursued their proposals through collusion." Earlier, Shahram Dabiri, the head of the Tabriz Islamic City Council, confirmed the arrest of these three members in an interview with the Tehran-based newspaper Etemad, stating that "the main suspect in this case is one of the council's advisors, accused of embezzlement, bribery, and financial corruption. However, the three council members were also summoned for questioning by the judiciary due to their connections with this individual and were later arrested." The head of the Tabriz City Council emphasized that he accepts any decision made by the judiciary regarding this case, while also stressing that "no charges have yet been proven, and one should not play with people's dignity." Dabiri also deemed it unlikely that more members of the Tabriz City Council would be added to the list of detainees. The Supreme Council of Provinces, as the most important supervisory body over councils across the country, has not yet responded to news regarding the arrests of Tabriz City Council members.