June 26, 2025—Hundreds of ordinary citizens, members of religious and ethnic minorities, activists, and others are being rounded up and arrested in Iran as the Islamic Republic, facing its most serious challenge to date, moves to stamp out any trace of dissent and reassert its control.
Key Developments:
- Over 700 individuals have been arrested across Iran in the past 12 days, with many hundreds more detained in Tehran. Checkpoints are set up in many cities to aid in arrests.
- Six executions on espionage charges have been carried out just since the war began, with additional death sentences expected.
- Detainees are being subjected to fast-tracked trials in kangaroo courts without lawyers or due process.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) calls on the Trump administration to forcefully raise these grave human rights violations in the upcoming negotiations with Iran and warn the Iranian authorities to immediately cease the domestic crackdown on its people.
“Like a wounded animal, the Islamic Republic is going after every perceived threat in the country with deadly force,” said Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI executive director.
“And true to form, the Iranian authorities are locking people up incommunicado without cause or access to a lawyer, and sending them to the gallows on ‘national security’ charges in order to terrorize the public and reestablish control,” Ghaemi said.
In just 12 days of war between Iran and Israel, at least 700 people in cities across Iran have been arrested for alleged collaboration with Israel, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency (126 in Kermanshah, 76 in Isfahan, 62 in Khuzestan, 53 in Fars, and 49 in Lorestan)—while CHRI has received credible reports of additional hundreds—if not more than a thousand—being rounded up and arrested inside Tehran, the capital.
Executions have already begun. Since the war’s outbreak, six individuals have been hanged on espionage charges—three in just the past few days. Two others were executed on the same charges shortly before the conflict began. More are expected to swiftly follow.
