As the Islamic Republic sinks deeper into political, economic, and security crises, it has once again resorted to its worn-out, cynical tactic: arresting members of religious minorities — Bahai’s and Jews — on fabricated charges of spying for Israel. What state media trumpet as a grand “counterintelligence operation” is devoid of any credible evidence and merely exposes the depth of fear and desperation of a regime that lost its legitimacy with the people long ago.
Recent reports from Iran indicate that dozens of Bahai’s have been arrested over the past two weeks in coordinated raids in Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd, and Shiraz. They stand accused of belonging to an Israeli spy network and plotting acts of sabotage. At the same time, at least 35 Jewish citizens in Tehran and Shiraz were summoned and interrogated, their homes searched, and their passports confiscated — all on the same baseless pretext of contacting relatives in Israel.
In recent weeks, Islamic Republic security forces have also arrested at least eight relatives of those killed during the 2022 protests. This is part of a broader crackdown on social activists, ethnic and religious minorities, and other citizens following the ceasefire between Iran and Israel. At least 21 Christian converts were arrested in six Iranian cities in early July.
The allegations leveled are absurd and unbelievable:
We are told that ordinary citizens were “guiding suicide drones,” “filming sensitive military sites,” or “planning bombings” — fantastical claims, with no explanation of how impoverished, sanctioned ordinary people could possibly carry out such acts.
These arrests are not signs of strength but of a regime with nothing left to offer but repression. In haste, the judiciary has amended espionage laws to enable speedy trials and harsher sentences — including public executions. Religious minorities, whose very existence challenges the regime’s claim of “Islamic purity,” are the easiest targets. These crackdowns are staged as “Islamic justice,” but they are nothing more than raw cruelty, intended to distract the public and instill fear.
Meanwhile, through Friday sermons and official propaganda, people are urged to “expose Zionist collaborators,” reviving the toxic culture of fear and betrayal that marked the 1979 revolution. The regime claims to be “purging traitors” — but in reality, the greatest betrayal was committed by Khamenei and his circle, who plundered Iran’s wealth, exported hatred, and plunged the people into war and poverty.
Even within the regime’s own ranks, the rot can no longer be ignored. The hasty and brutal nature of these arrests — leaving families in the dark about their loved ones’ fate — reveals a paranoid leadership terrified of its own people. That fear was laid bare just days ago in the city of Khomein, when security forces opened fire on two vehicles near a military base, killing four members of a family — including a three-year-old girl named Raha Sheikhi, along with her parents and aunt. The name Raha, which means “freedom,” has since become a poignant symbol on Iranian social media of innocence crushed under the weight of the regime’s violence.
Khamenei continues to appear in public, boasting defiantly. But behind his bluster lies a decaying structure, one that has nothing left to govern with but violence, fear, and lies. His threats to “cleanse” society and stage public executions of innocents are not signs of power but of panic — panic at collapse, panic at justice, and panic at the Iranian people themselves.
The same regime that for decades drove the country to ruin through theft, repression, and hatred now tries to pin its crimes on religious minorities. But the judgment of history is coming — and with each passing day, it draws closer.