Iranian authorities make sweeping arrests in wake of war with Israel

Vehicles drive past a banner in Tehran on Monday showing portraits of the Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists who were killed in Israeli strikes. (Vahid Salemi/AP)

Iranian authorities make sweeping arrests in wake of war with Israel

Washington Post-July1st2025

By Susannah George

DUBAI — Iranian authorities have arrested hundreds of people and executed half a dozen in a sweeping security crackdown that analysts say is aimed at exerting control after a brief but punishing war with Israel exposed Iran’s deep infiltration by Israeli intelligence.

In the week since a ceasefire was declared, security forces have erected checkpoints in Tehran and other cities and urged citizens to report anything suspicious. The Iranian parliament also announced an emergency bill that includes harsher punishments for espionage, including the death penalty, and the judiciary said it ordered the creation of special courts to swiftly handle the “traitors and mercenaries.”

In a news conference Sunday, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, Asghar Jahangir, said he would soon provide details on how many people have been arrested and on what charges. He said only that “a number of people suspected of spying for the Zionist regime have been identified and cases filed against them.”

According to local media reports and human rights groups, more than 700 people were arrested across five provinces during the 12-day conflict. The Center for Human Rights in Iran, which is based in New York, said it received credible reports of hundreds more arrested in Tehran. It reported that at least six people were executed for spying for Israel, including three who were put to death in Oroumieh in western Iran on June 25.

Rights groups have condemned the moves, with Amnesty International warning against arbitrary executions and expedited trials. The arrests have also raised fears inside Iran that a new wave of repression is coming, as the government seeks to root out spy networks and clamp down on any dissent among the wider population.

Iranian security forces have beaten, arrested, tortured and executed thousands since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979. More recently, the regime cracked down on nationwide protests that erupted when a woman died while in the custody of Iran’s guidance patrol — or morality police — in September 2022.