[Field Story] Iran, Large-Scale Household Crackdowns After Ceasefire… Hundreds Arrested, Including Kurds

Iran, which entered a ceasefire after 12 days of armed conflict with Israel, is ramping up its internal system crackdown.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the paramilitary Basij militia are strengthening their vigilance on domestic security, especially keeping a close eye on Kurdish-populated areas.

On the 25th (local time), Reuters reported, citing the Iranian human rights group HRANA, that 705 people have been arrested in Iran on political or security charges since the outbreak of war with Israel.

According to HRANA, many of them are suspected of spying for Israel.

According to Iranian state media, three of them were executed on the 24th in the Urmia region near the border with Turkiye.

Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group based in Norway, said that all of the executed people were Kurds.

The Iranian Kurdish separatist party based in Iraqi Kurdistan confirmed that some of its activists had been arrested.

Rivaz Khalili of the Kurdish separatist group, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), said that three days after the Israeli airstrikes began, the Revolutionary Guards were deployed to schools and other areas in Kurdish areas and began searching for suspects from house to house.

A senior member of the separatist armed group, the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), claimed that more than 500 of its members had been detained in Kurdish areas since the Israeli airstrikes began.

He also said that checkpoints were set up everywhere, with body searches and cell phone checks being conducted.

Iran's crackdown on the Kurds appears to be due to the fact that these Sunni Muslims have long been active in anti-government activities in Iran, where Shia is the majority.

They judged that they could organize anti-government protests again during the chaos caused by the fighting with Israel, so they tightened the reins of crackdown nationwide after the ceasefire.

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Source: Yonhap News

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)

Father God, we hear that Iran, which entered into a ceasefire after 12 days of armed conflict with Israel, is strengthening its security and cracking down on espionage and anti-government activities by the Kurds.

Three days after the start of the Israeli airstrikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were deployed to Kurdish areas to search for suspects, detain more than 500 party members, and set up checkpoints everywhere to conduct body searches and cell phone checks. Please have mercy on the Kurds who are living in fear under surveillance and oppression.

Lord, even though the Kurds are currently living in Iraq, Turkiye, and Iran without a country despite their long independence movement, we believe that Jehovah God chose the Kurds before the creation of the world and that He chose them among many peoples.

We also believe that God, who established the Kurds, will protect and guide the Kurds no matter what difficulties they face.

Please let the Iranian church acknowledge that God established the Kurdish people and not turn a blind eye to the pain of the Kurdish souls, but forgive and serve them with God’s love.

Therefore, although Iran and the Kurds are full of confusion and fear, at this time, let us see the history of the Iranian Church and the Kurdish Church uniting together to fulfill the Lord's will!

Let the Kurds, who live separated in Turkiye, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, not toil and shed blood in vain for something that is not eternal, but rise up as a powerful united Medes army that does not look back on silver and does not rejoice in gold, and let them be established as a nation that testifies to the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven among all nations!