US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has announced the arrest of 31 individuals in Sirjan County, located in the southeastern Kerman province. Authorities allege the detainees belong to four organized “sabotage” networks backed by the United States and Israel.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Details of the Operation
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The Allegations: According to a statement released by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, the networks were actively preparing to incite street riots, disrupt public security, and destroy public and private property.
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Targeting Youth: The ministry stated that these networks operated under names specifically designed to appeal to and recruit teenagers and young adults.
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Seized Materials: Security forces reported finding large quantities of Molotov cocktails and specialized tools manufactured to destroy urban surveillance cameras.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Connection to Prior Unrest
Iranian state media and the Intelligence Ministry linked the detained individuals to violent anti-government protests that occurred in late December 2025 and early January 2026. Officials accuse members of these networks of participating in past attacks, which included:
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Setting fire to a local governor’s office.
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Vandalizing banks, government buildings, and public infrastructure.
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Attacking a police headquarters in an attempt to seize weapons.
Iranian judiciary officials have characterized those previous riots as a foreign-backed “coup attempt” orchestrated by US and Israeli intelligence apparatuses. The claims regarding the suspects’ direct links to foreign intelligence agencies could not be independently verified.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: How the Networks Operated
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“Attractive” Recruitment Fronts: The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence stated that the operatives deliberately chose appealing group names specifically designed to lure adolescents, teenagers, and young adults into joining their operations.
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Pre-Planned Task Allocation: Detainees reportedly operated under highly structured internal roles. Individual members were given specific operational duties, such as manufacturing explosives or systematically sabotaging local infrastructure.
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Future Disruptions: Beyond the historical allegations from late 2025 and January 2026, authorities claimed these groups were actively coordinating logistics to respond to upcoming nationwide online calls for renewed street protests.
US-Israel-Iran War Latest Live News: Nationwide Unrest
The arrests are part of a massive security response following a major wave of anti-government demonstrations that began in late December 2025 over the rising cost of living before expanding into widespread political unrest that peaked around January 8–9.
Reports from regional outlets and state broadcasts detail the scale of the state’s crackdown following those events:
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Mass Arrests & Executions: According to statements by Iran’s police chief, Ahmadreza Radan, authorities have arrested roughly 6,000 individuals connected to the winter protests. Furthermore, the Iranian judiciary has already executed individuals convicted of destroying property and killing security personnel during the January riots.
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Financial Crackdowns: The state judiciary implemented sweeping financial penalties targeting over 240 dissidents, journalists, and public figures accused of “propaganda against the state,” resulting in the freezing of 182 bank accounts and 143 property seizures in Tehran alone.
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Accusations of Insurgency: In other parts of the country, such as western Iran, regional governors have similarly labeled the winter riots as “completely terrorist seditions” orchestrated by foreign intelligence, prompting the rare deployment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Ground Forces to suppress demonstrators.
The Iranian government frequently attributes domestic unrest to Western and Israeli intelligence agencies, though external human rights groups and international observers maintain that the protests are driven by deep-seated domestic economic grievances and political dissent.
