Iran seizes assets of 240 dissidents and journalists in widening crackdown

Financial punishment expands

Iran’s judiciary has confiscated assets belonging to 240 dissidents, journalists and public figures and frozen 182 bank accounts, extending a political crackdown into property and personal finance. The judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency said 143 of the seizures occurred in Tehran. Those targeted were accused by authorities of propaganda or other activity benefiting hostile governments, a broad formulation regularly applied to critics and opposition-linked media.

Police chief Ahmadreza Radan separately said more than 6,000 people had been arrested in connection with the nationwide protests that erupted around the turn of the year. He also announced the latest arrests of three alleged members of the exiled Mojahedin-e Khalq opposition organisation. The official claims about individual defendants have not been independently adjudicated, and the government’s description of the protests as a coup attempt remains its own political characterisation.

Journalists and relatives under pressure

Some of the confiscated property reportedly belongs to journalists working for Persian-language broadcasters outside Iran, including Iran International and Manoto. The judiciary has made more than 2,000 inquiries to the central bank about defendants’ accounts and warned that additional cases and seizures are possible. The scale indicates that financial restrictions are being used systematically, not merely as incidental penalties after a small number of prosecutions.

UN human-rights experts documented the relevant pattern before the latest announcement. A May 2026 communication raised allegations of widespread arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and unfair capital proceedings following nationwide protests. An earlier OHCHR communication concerning Iran International personnel recorded threats against journalists and relatives in several countries, including threats of financial sanctions and asset seizures. Those UN records do not independently confirm the new total of 240, but they establish a documented continuum of pressure on critical media and protest participants.

What to watch

The next questions concern due process and the fate of the frozen property. Authorities have not published a complete list of affected people, the evidence in each case or a clear timetable for appeals. Monitoring will focus on whether seizures extend to relatives, whether detainees receive independent legal representation and whether new death sentences emerge from protest-related cases. The combination of mass arrests and financial confiscation raises the cost of dissent even for critics living abroad, because family property and domestic bank accounts can remain within the Iranian state’s reach.