Iranian security forces detained several representatives of the Reform Front, which is an umbrella organization of reformist and moderate politicians in Iran. TASR informs about this with reference to the DPA agency and the news websites The Times of Israel (TOI) and Deutsche Welle (DW).
- Iran detained several representatives of the Reform Front.
- They accuse them of disrupting the country’s political stability.
Among those detained is the leader of the Reform Front, Azar Mansúriová, the former deputy minister of foreign affairs during the era of ex-president Muhammad Khatami, Mohsen Aminzáde, and the politician Ebráhim Asgharzáde, who in 1979 participated in the invasion of the American embassy complex in Tehran.
Prosecutor’s charges
Based on the statement of the Tehran prosecutor’s office, quoted by the state agency IRNA, the authorities detained four people and summoned others for questioning. All are suspected of “organizing and committing activities aimed at disrupting the political and social situation” in Iran. Their actions were allegedly directly related to military threats from the US and Israel.
However, according to DW, it is not clear how much support the reformist movement has, which largely supported the current Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkiyan in the 2024 presidential elections.
Mass protests and interventions
The detention of a group of pro-reform politicians comes a month after mass protests erupted in Iran in late December 2025 over a deepening economic crisis and quickly spread across the country in opposition to authoritarian rule. The riots escalated during the nights of January 8 and 9, when the security forces brutally attacked the protesters. Thousands of people lost their lives.
Iranian authorities defend this use of force by claiming that they eliminated “mercenaries hired by arch-enemies – the United States and Israel.”
Consequences and warnings of reformists
This official version of events in Iran was publicly criticized by several leading journalists and reformist politicians, who thus exposed themselves to possible prosecution, DPA added.
The Reform Front was also very harsh in its statements towards Tehran: even after the 12-day war against Israel, the reformists warned that fundamental reforms would not be adopted in Iran and that the country was facing a “gradual collapse,” TOI added. Following the protests that took place in Iran at the turn of 2025–26, the Reform Front called on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.
In an effort to discourage further protests, Iranian authorities launched mass arrests and intimidation in January that led to the detention of tens of thousands of people, according to some sources.
