As the United States decides how long to continue the ceasefire, there are reports inside Iran that the Islamic Republic has increased its human rights violations since Operation Roaring Lion/Operation Epic Fury took a pause. Over the past three weeks, eight alleged members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), along with seven protesters arrested during the January 2026 uprising, have been executed.
Ahmad Obali, a prominent South Azerbaijani dissident journalist who heads Gunaz TV, recently reported that Iran’s ethnic minority groups, including South Azerbaijanis and other ethnic groups in particular, have been increasingly targeted since the cease-fire came into effect. He reported: “63 people in the province of East Azerbaijan were arrested following the ceasefire." Obali noted an example of a mother who was arrested because her 13-year-old daughter sent pictures outside of Iran.
Obali claims that these people were arrested for “high treason" for doing nothing more than perhaps sending a picture of the damage inside Iran relatives or friends outside of Iran: “They are charged with ‘cooperating with the enemy’ as their relatives are outside of Iran. They are usually judged guilty until they prove themselves innocent, which is very difficult to do. Many of these people will likely be wrongfully executed as scapegoats, so that the Intelligence Unit of IRGC can claim that they are on top of things."
According to Obali, “The arrestees names are not published, so it is hard for the outside world to get in touch with their relatives. If the people speak about their relatives being arrested, they themselves will be arrested as well. So the regime is trying to create fear amongst the people to hold them back from any possible protests."
However, the Iranian regime is not only engaging in mass executions and arrests. They are continuing to attack civilians on other fronts as well.
Salah Bayaziddi, the Washington, DC representative of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, added: “So far, since the ceasefire came into effect across all fronts, the Iranian regime has intensified its drone and missile attacks on the families and civilian camps of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups. These camps are under the supervision of the UNHCR and should be protected under international law. They were heavily targeted during the 39-day war, and even now, despite the ceasefire on all fronts, Kurdish positions continue to come under fire."
Iranian journalist Mohsen Beyzad Karimi noted that the Iranian regime’s repression since the ceasefire is not limited to minorities: “It is nationwide. In recent weeks, there has been a rise in executions, arrests, torture and enforced disappearances across the country. While the attacks have targeted armed groups such as Komala and other Kurdish militant organizations, these are not attacks on minorities as such but operations against specific armed factions---something that is not new in the Iranian context."
Karimi continued: “Iran is a diverse country, home to over 20 million Azeris, 8 to 10 million Kurds, several million Arabs, as well as Baloch and Turkmen. However, self-proclaimed minority political or militant groups do not represent these populations in any meaningful way. In most cases, especially beyond certain Kurdish groups, there is no comparable organized military presence. Framing these developments as attacks on minorities risks misrepresenting the situation and overlooking the broader, nationwide nature of repression."
Obali agreed with Karimi that Iran is a multi-ethnic country, but disagreed with him on the nature of the attacks: “The Persian nationalists do not want the ethnic minorities to speak about the violation of their human rights separately from the rest of the country. They also try to discredit the ethnic minority organizations. Iran is a multi-ethnic country, composed of Azerbaijanis, Persians, Kurds, Baloch, Ahwazi Arabs, Turkmen, Gilaks, Mazanis, Lors, etc. Azerbaijanis and Persians are the largest groups, but none of them make up over forty percent of the population. Although some Persian nationalists and the Islamic Republic minimize the number of non-Persian ethnic groups, they make up at least sixty percent of the population and the recent crackdown by the government has been extremely harsh on the ethnic regions. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Persian nationalists always downplay the importance of ethnic regions."
In conclusion, while everyone inside Iran has suffered since the ceasefire came into effect, with the rampant repression gaining steam during the pause in fighting, Iran’s ethnic minorities in particular have felt the heat. As the ceasefire halting the US-Israeli military campaign in Iran continues, the Iranian regime has reportedly taken advantage of the pause in order to increase internal repression in order to prevent a fresh wave of protests from taking place. For the people of Iran, in that case, the ceasefire has brought about increased persecution, not relief.
And although all Iranians feel this repression, Iran’s ethnic minorities feel the heat even more harshly than the Persians.
Rachel Avraham is the CEO of the Dona Gracia Center for Diplomacy and an Israel-based journalist. She is the author of “Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab media."