4 days ago
Iran detained 21,000 people during 12-day war with Israel
Iran detained 21,000 people during its 12-day war with Israel in June, the regime has revealed.
Iran has not previously acknowledged the scale of the mass arrests, which came amid fears that Iranian society had been infiltrated by Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency.
Gen Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, a spokesman for the Iranian police, said the suspects were reported via tip-offs to authorities after a near nationwide internet blackout was imposed during the war.
He told state television: 'The arrest of 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war indicated high awareness and participation of people in providing security.'
While he did not elaborate on what charges the suspects might face, he said more than 261 were suspected of spying and another 172 were arrested on suspicion of illegal filming.
He also revealed police established more than 1,000 checkpoints and deployed 40,000 police officers for round-the-clock security during the war, which began after Israel's pre-emptive attacks on the morning of June 13.
The wave of air strikes killed nearly 1,100 people in Iran, including the army's chief of staff and several high-level military commanders and top nuclear scientists. Retaliatory Iranian strikes killed 32 people in Israel.
The latest arrest figures contradict those released by the country's top legal authority.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran's judiciary chief, recently claimed around '2,000 people' were arrested during and after the conflict, some of whom face the death penalty on charges of 'organisational collaboration with the enemy'.
Speaking to state TV last month, he said: 'In our law, anyone who co-operates with a hostile state during wartime must be arrested and prosecuted.'
Some have since been released, including dozens from the country's Jewish community and minorities regularly persecuted such as the Kurd and Bahai populations.
The judiciary chief said some detainees remain on bail and trials are being fast-tracked.
The mass detentions have sparked alarm among human rights experts who fear Iran will use the war as the chance to continue its execution spree.
Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights said 21 people were executed during the June conflict, including six accused of spying for Israel.
The Islamic Republic has one of the world's highest execution rates.
In April, human rights group Amnesty International said Iran accounted for 64 per cent of all known global executions last year, with at least 972 people executed, branding it part of an ongoing campaign of mass suppression of dissent.
