Iranian authorities have intensified a crackdown on dissent in the wake of mass protests, launching arrests, seizing property and closing businesses connected to a range of prominent figures they have accused of fomenting the unrest.
The office of Tehran’s prosecutor-general on Tuesday said cases had been opened against 15 sports figures and actors, as well as 10 signatories of a statement issued by Cinema House, the country’s leading film industry association.
It implied they were involved in instigating the protests and said their properties would be used to compensate for damage to private and public assets if convicted.
The properties of some of those individuals have been confiscated, and state television reported about 60 cafés were identified in “direct or indirect” support of “terrorist acts”.
…
Iranian authorities say thousands were killed in the protests, which started last month over economic distress before spiralling into the most violent domestic unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Chants quickly escalated from being about economic grievances to calling for the overthrow of the Islamic republic and the removal of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei before a brutal crackdown brought the demonstrations to an end.
…