Iran arrests nearly 200 people over US-Israel war, rights group says

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Iranian authorities have arrested nearly 200 people nationwide on charges related to the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, a US-based rights group said on Thursday.

The charges relate to accusations including over activity on social media, sending content to foreign media outlets, espionage and disturbing public order, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said, adding its count was based on official reports.

It said at least 195 people had been arrested nationwide including in the capital Tehran and the northern hub of Tabriz as well as other cities and provinces across the country.

In one instance, the intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Guards announced that 10 people who had filmed locations struck in the attacks and sent the footage to foreign media had been arrested so far and a video containing their "forced confessions" broadcast, it said.

National police chief Ahmad Reza Radan earlier  this week warned any protesters that they would be treated as enemies and shot, saying security forces have "hands on the trigger".

In a clip shared virally on Wednesday, a presenter on state TV was seen warning "we will make mothers mourn those inside or outside the country who have the foolish idea that amid chaos something must be done".

The US-Israeli attacks erupted just weeks after unprecedented protests against the clerical establishment that peaked in January.

They were put down with a crackdown which according to rights groups left thousands of people dead and tens of thousands arrested.

Campaigners expressed concern that a crackdown could be launched during the war, saying that authorities were ready to use espionage charges against their opponents.

"The Islamic republic has a track record of using the shadow of war and moments of crisis to intensify domestic repression," said Bahar Ghandehari, the director of advocacy at US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

"Authorities are increasingly equating dissent with 'espionage' or labelling critics as 'enemies of the state', creating political cover for a severe crackdown," she told AFP.

The rights group "is deeply concerned about the risk of mass arbitrary arrests under espionage charges" which can carry the death penalty in Iran, she said.