Following the intensification of security pressures on critical and leftist intellectual circles, the intelligence agencies of the Islamic Republic have, in recent days, arrested at least four independent researchers and writers.
According to Kolbarnews, Parviz Sadaqat, an economist and researcher in political economy with a leftist orientation; Mahsa Asadollahnejad, a sociologist and researcher; and Shirin Karimi, a writer and translator of social sciences, were arrested on the November 3, 2025.
Additionally, Mohammad Maljoo, a critic of the capitalist structure in Iran and a former university lecturer, has been summoned by security institutions for interrogation.
In the past week, Hemin Rahimi, one of the young researchers, was also arrested, and several other academic activists have been summoned.
The official charge brought against these individuals is “acting against national security” a vague accusation frequently used by Iran’s security apparatus in recent years to silence dissenting and oppositional voices.
In response to these arrests, numerous academic, cultural, and political figures have issued statements condemning these actions and calling for the immediate release of the detainees.
In one of the latest cases, more than 260 professors, researchers, and writers have signed a statement warning against the repression of independent and leftist thought in Iran.
Observers consider this new wave of arrests as part of a systematic government policy aimed at restraining and silencing critical and justice-oriented voices in Iran’s public sphere, a space that, according to many intellectual activists, is becoming increasingly constricted.
