Iran charges 1,895 with spying
Officials link recent arrests to post-war security gaps and intensified domestic control.
By Lina Lewis ·
Iranian authorities have opened active cases against 1,895 individuals accused of collaborating with hostile states, according to judiciary spokesman Ali Kazemi. The count includes 94 media workers. These figures represent the current baseline for national security prosecutions as of earlier this month.
The scale of detention has expanded sharply since the 12-day war in June 2025. Police recorded at least 21,000 arrests in the immediate aftermath of that conflict. A subsequent wave of protests in January 2026 led to the detention of at least 50,000 people. Executions tied to espionage charges have also increased. The United Nations reported 19 hangings between June and December 2025. Iran Human Rights recorded 16 such executions between January and September 2026. Amnesty International counted at least 34 executions linked to the January protests by October 13.
Security officials cite specific intelligence failures to justify the crackdown. David Barnea, the former Mossad director who led the agency until June 2026, addressed a conference in Israel on October 22. He stated that dozens of agents with sabotage assignments entered Iran in the weeks before the June 2025 war. Barnea noted that these agents were living in Tehran under cover. He added that Israeli intelligence released footage of agents wearing Mossad logos to trigger mass arrests by Iranian authorities. This strategy aimed to protect unidentified assets while removing perceived threats.
Analysts observe that the government is leveraging these security concerns to suppress dissent. Saeid Golkar, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, pointed to the killing of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28 as evidence of genuine vulnerabilities. He argued that the current response mixes legitimate counterintelligence efforts with a broader effort to intimidate society. Golkar described the Islamic Republic as a security-dominated regime that treats nonviolent dissent as an existential threat.
Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, emphasized the distinction between espionage and political opposition. She stated that criticizing the government or reporting on its failures does not constitute spying. However, she noted that authorities have increasingly blurred the line between the two categories in recent prosecutions.
Legal standards for communication have also tightened. Sending information to networks deemed hostile, such as BBC Persian, can result in prison sentences of 10 to 15 years. When combined with other offenses, these actions can lead to charges of corruption on Earth, which carry the death penalty. Authorities have labeled Starlink terminals as a tool of war and have moved to confiscate or jam devices that tens of thousands of citizens have smuggled into the country.
The internet shutdowns accompanying these measures have become longer and more frequent. Iran cut off internet access for 90 million people for several days during the June 2025 war. A 20-day shutdown occurred during the January 2026 protests. The current conflict has seen an 88-day disconnection at its start. These disruptions limit the flow of information while security institutions expand their reach.
