Iranian authorities have arrested at least 20 people in the northwestern part of the country for allegedly collaborating with Israel, the FARS news agency reported today, the 16th day of the Middle East war.
In West Azerbaijan province “20 persons were detained by court order” for allegedly “transmitting information about army, police and security forces facilities to the Zionist enemy,” said the province’s prosecutor Hussein Majidi, according to FARS.
The Iranian authorities have unleashed several waves of arrests and indictments in recent days that are linked to the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28 against Iran, according to Iranian media and NGOs.
The powerful Iranian police chief Ahmad Reza Radhan warned earlier this week that “rioters” would now be treated as “enemies” and shot, stressing that security forces were keeping “their finger on the trigger”.
Tehran frequently announces arrests of individuals it portrays as “spies” in the workings of the US and Israel, its sworn enemies.
Since the outbreak of the war, Iranian authorities have been urging the population to be vigilant and report any behavior that appears suspicious, especially when people take photos or videos that could endanger national security.
