“Iran arrests leading reformists close to president amid crackdown on protest critics,” i24, 2-9-26.  Azar Mansouri, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, Mohsen Aminzadeh, and others are ordered to turn themselves in at police stations.  “Iranian prosecutors accused those arrested of “targeting national unity, taking a stance against the constitution, promoting surrender, perverting political groups, and creating secret subversive mechanisms.” Judiciary head Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei added that critics within Iran were acting in agreement with “the Zionist regime and America” and warned they would “suffer losses.”  The arrests appear aimed at preventing the spread of criticism over the handling of the protests, which followed reports of thousands killed. … These detentions come amid a wider crackdown on human rights defenders. … Human rights groups have condemned the crackdown as part of a broader effort by Tehran to silence dissent and suppress accountability for the violent response to nationwide demonstrations, highlighting ongoing concerns over political freedoms in Iran.”  Further proof that the Regime will not reform.  The people are left with only one choice.

“This is the largest mass killing in contemporary Iranian history and one of the largest in the world,” Payam Akhavan, an Iranian Canadian former UN prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, in The Hague, told BBC News Persian.  See “Machine guns to machetes: Weapons that massacred thousands in Iran,” BBC, 2-9-26.

“Iran Detains Prominent Political Figures, Expanding Crackdown on Dissent,” NYT, 2-9-26.

“Iran defies US threats to insist on right to enrich uranium,” CAN, 2-9-26.

So true.  “Iran’s persistent claims that these weapons are purely for defense or deterrence are contradicted by its use of them against Iraqi Kurdistan in particular. In reality, it’s hard to think of any other country that relies so heavily on ballistic missiles in lieu of other, more conventional military capabilities and has shown such a willingness to use them at the slightest provocation.”  See “Iran’s Ballistic Missiles Were Never Wholly For Defense Or Deterrence,” Forbes, 2-9-26.