The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) launched a new wave of dissidents’ arrests to create an atmosphere of fear in society and prevent possible protests.

In recent weeks, MOIS agents arrested several former political prisoners, including a young man who suffers from leukemia, and his health condition is at serious risk.

The MOIS launched these arrests on the November 2019 protests‘ anniversary, which immediately engulfed over 200 cities across Iran.

On Wednesday, November 11, the security forces arrested three Kurdish political activists, Saeed Asghari, 51, Saeed Samimi, 24, and Kasra Bani Amerian, 24, at their homes. After hours of interrogation, MOIS agents transferred them to Ward 4 of the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. Neither judiciary nor any security apparatuses have issued a prior summon for these citizens to the prison.

Back in 2018, the MOIS had arrested Saeed Samimi and Kasra Bani Amerian. However, the authorities finally released them on bail after two months of imprisonment in Ward 209 of Evin Prison.

Previously, the revolutionary Court Branch 28 had sentenced these Kurdish citizens to five years imprisonment while they had been deprived of access to their lawyer. The court had punished them for connections and cooperation with the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Afterward, the Revolutionary Court Branch 36, headed by Judge Zargar, confirmed these citizens’ sentences in absentia.

Kasra Bani Amerian has leukemia and was undergoing chemotherapy. His life is in grave danger due to the spread of the coronavirus in Iran’s prisons.

Also, according to information obtained from dissidents, authorities have summoned Hamid Sharif to Evin Prison. The Revolutionary Court has sentenced him to one year in prison.

Another former political prisoner, Sina Zahiri, is also summoned to Evin Prison to serve his five-year imprisonment. The court had previously sentenced him to two years in prison for supporting the PMOI/MEK. He was released in 2012.

On the anniversary of the November 2019 protests, the Iranian authorities have intensified oppressive measures. In this respect, the government has harassed or imprisoned many dissidents, protesters, and family members of the crackdown victims.

Officials pressured the November 2019 crackdown families to remain silent and not to hold public mourning or memorials for their loved ones.

According to reports provided by the PMOI/MEK domestic network—known as Resistance Units—, security forces, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and MOIS agents gunned down more than 1,500 protesters during the bloody crackdown on November 2019 protests. Many women and even children were among the victims. In separate reports, the U.S. State Department and Reuters confirmed that security forces killed at least 1,500 defenseless people during the anti-establishment protests.

An Inevitable Confession to the Killing of Children in Iran’s November 2019 Uprising