Iranian authorities have summoned at least 35 Jews for questioning about their ties to Israel in the aftermath of the 12-day conflict between the two countries, a human rights organization reported on Saturday, amid unconfirmed reports that several Jewish community leaders had been arrested on suspicion of having ties to Israel.
Iranian authorities have cracked down on anyone they suspect of having ties to Israel in the wake of the war it launched against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program on June 13. Since then, more than 700 people have been arrested, Iran’s Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 35 Jews from Tehran and Shiraz have been called in for questioning since June 23 — the day before the US announced that a ceasefire deal had been reached.
It said that those called in for questioning were primarily interrogated about relatives who live in Israel and were warned not to contact them, or anyone else abroad, for the time being.
An unnamed member of the Iranian Jewish community told HRANA that the number of people from the community who had been summoned for questioning was “unprecedented” and that there were concerns about “the psychological and social well-being” of the community as a result.
Also on Saturday, an Iranian woman told Israel’s Channel 12 news outlet that she had witnessed the arrest of 10 Iranian Jews in recent days.
The woman, identified only as Miriam, told the news outlet that she saw six Jewish women and four Jewish men being arrested at 1:30 am on a recent morning.
Miriam, whom Channel 12 says it has spoken with in the past for reports on life in Iran, said that armed men “jumped over the wall” into the courtyard of the area where she lives, threatened residents and told them to hand over their phones.
“I had hidden mine under the carpet as soon as I heard their voices,” she said.
“They took away 10 people simply because they are Jewish… loading them like sheep into the car,” she said.
The six women have since been released on bail, she said.
Miriam’s account appeared to correspond with unconfirmed reports from Friday which claimed that several Jewish community leaders had been arrested on suspicion of having ties to Israel.
The French-Iranian women’s rights group Femme Azadi reported that rabbis and other religious leaders in both Tehran and Shiraz were accused of having a connection to Israel without any evidence.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Ynet news outlet had reported that Iranian authorities arrested multiple members of one family and confiscated their electronic devices.
It said that the women were later released from custody, but the men, one of whom it said is a rabbi, remained in detention.
Rani Amrani, from an Israeli radio station called Ran Radio, said on Saturday that the Iranian Jewish community had recently organized a gathering, attended by its rabbis and by many Iranian Jews who serve in the Iranian army, designed to “avert any suspicion of spying or, heaven forbid, betrayal.”
It was unclear if the event she was talking about was the same event publicized by Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency, which on Thursday published photos of the Jewish community in Tehran gathering at the Abrishami Synagogue for an event in support of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Iranian military after the war with Israel.
Between 8,000 to 10,000 Jews are believed to live in Iran — meaning the Islamic Republic has the second-largest Jewish population of any country in the Middle East, after Israel.
In total, since the outbreak of war on June 13, the Iranian regime has arrested more than 700 people on suspicion of ties to Israel, and at least three people have been executed, having been found guilty of collaboration with the Jewish state.
Tehran regularly announces the arrest and execution of agents suspected of working for foreign intelligence services, including Israel, a country it regularly vows to destroy.
Iran is the world’s second-most prolific executioner after China, according to human rights groups, including Amnesty International.
After Israel attacked Iran on June 13 in order to thwart what it deemed the existential threats of Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Tehran vowed swift trials for people arrested on suspicion of collaboration.
Over the course of the 12-day war, which appeared to end on Tuesday with a US-brokered ceasefire, Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program. The US also struck key Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan.
Iran retaliated to Israel’s attacks by launching over 550 ballistic missiles and around 1,000 drones at Israel. Iran’s missile attacks killed 28 people and wounded thousands in Israel, according to health officials. Missiles hit apartment buildings, a university, and a hospital, causing heavy damage. Iran also fired at a US base in Qatar after the American strikes.
Agencies contributed to this report.