Iranian activist tells BBC fear of war restarting intensifies trauma of repression
A woman activist with a history of detention in Tehran told the BBC that post-war security pressure has increased in Iran. Human rights organisations have reported a marked acceleration in the wave of detentions. The pressure, which also weighs on the economy, is fuelling social anxiety.
Activist Maryam Mohammadi, who spoke to the BBC, said the number of detentions during the war period was double the official figures. Iran's Judiciary Council put the figure at 2,300 detentions by the end of June; civil society sources put it at 4,500.
Mohammadi said prosecutions targeting women's rights activists had accelerated. New hijab legislation added online posts to the list of forbidden expressions. The judiciary has also detained labour leaders protesting on economic grounds under the same legal framework.
Iran's economy has inflation running at 38% while the rial trades at 62,000 to 1 US dollar on the unofficial market. Talks with the US suggest the prospect of some sanctions being lifted, but officials are signalling a tightening of internal security policy.
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