Mahsa Saeedi and five more women are among those apprehended to prevent another uprising
Mahsa Saeedi continues to remain in detention, 11 days after her arrest. Mahsa Saeedi was born in Kerman but studied at the University of Yazd (central Iran) and has a Ph.D. in economics.
Agents of IRGC Intelligence in Yazd arrested Mahsa Saeedi on September 11 and transferred her to an undisclosed location. No news is available on her fate, and her family is really concerned.
The clerical regime has been making widespread arrests over the past few months, stepping up the detentions around the anniversary of the 2022 Iran Uprising on September 16. The regime’s security and intelligence services arrest students, teachers, professors, rights activists, former political prisoners, and relatives of martyrs of the uprising.
According to reports on September 23, the authorities of the Prison of Gorgan (northern Iran) called Ms. Fereshteh Mahdavi to take clothes for her imprisoned son, Mohammad Reza Showqi, 23 years old. When Ms. Mahdavi went to deliver some clothes for her son, the State Security forces arrested her and put her in jail.
Armita Pavir, a student activist, was arrested by security forces on September 21 and transferred to the women’s ward of the Central Prison of Tabriz. No information is available on her charges.
Armita Pavir is a student of cell and molecular biology at the Madani University of Azerbaijan. She had been arrested on October 31, 2022, during the 2022 Iran protests but later released on bail on December 8, 2022.
Another woman has been arrested and imprisoned for protesting the compulsory veil. Security forces arrested Zeinab Kazemi, 38, and a construction engineer, on Monday, September 18, 2023. She was expelled from the board of directors of the Engineering Organization for removing her veil.
In the meantime, labor activist Reyhaneh Ansari Nejad was summoned on September 20, 2023, by the Office of the Implementation of Verdicts to report to serve her four-year prison time. Ms. Ansari Nejad was arrested on April 28, on the eve of the International Labor Day. She had been temporarily released on bail on August 6, 2023.
Another labor activist, Atefeh Rangriz, was transferred to the Prison of Shahrud, on September 21, 2023.
Intelligence agents arrested her on September 10 and interrogated her at the detention Center of the Intelligence Department of Semnan. She was transferred to Shahrud Prison after the completion of her interrogations.