Reports indicate that all 14 Jews arrested last week by Iranian authorities have been released, according to Iranian opposition activists and journalists speaking to JNS. Their arrests were part of a broader nationwide crackdown in which approximately 600 Iranians were detained after the announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Rosa Parto, an Iranian-Israeli journalist, cited a reliable source inside the Iranian government — described as a Muslim man unfriendly to the regime — who confirmed that no Jews had been arrested in Tehran and that those detained in Shiraz and Isfahan on June 24 and 25 were later released. Parto explained that the Iranian regime’s security services were not specifically targeting Jews, but rather arrested hundreds for sharing or liking posts on social media deemed critical of the regime during the conflict. Among those detained were Jews who participated in a daf yomi group on WhatsApp. According to George Haroonian, an Iranian Jewish activist based in Los Angeles, regime cyber police had been monitoring the group, apparently mistaking its purpose for something political. Once authorities realized the group’s religious nature, those arrested were freed. Haroonian stated he had heard that as many as 35 Jews were detained, with all but two or three now released. Parto criticized exaggerated reports that as many as 700 Jews, including rabbanim and chazzanim, had been arrested. She attributed those claims to social media posts circulated by a small Iranian opposition group in Paris, which she said lacked genuine connections to the Jewish community in Iran. “They shamefully made up this fake news just to get media attention without any regard for the lives of Jews in Iran,” Parto told JNS, noting that her contacts in Tehran and other cities would have immediately informed her if large-scale arrests had truly taken place. Meanwhile, Iranian Jewish leaders have come under pressure from the regime to avoid contact with those outside the country, especially with Israel. A Jewish Iranian activist in Los Angeles told JNS, speaking anonymously, that community members inside Iran had been warned that communicating with Israelis could result in six months’ imprisonment on espionage charges. Some Jews in Iran have also been warned their phones and internet activity are being monitored. Parto recounted that several of her friends in Tehran and Isfahan had asked her not to contact them further out of fear of retaliation. Fred Saberi, an Iranian-Swedish analyst, suggested the regime’s actions reflected its weakness following military setbacks against Israel, describing the crackdown as a way to intimidate the broader population and deter dissent. On June 25, Iran’s state-controlled PressTV reported that three people accused of being Mossad spies had been executed, further fueling fear among the country’s Jewish minority. Jewish Iranian-American leaders have traditionally remained cautious in public comments to avoid provoking reprisals against the estimated 9,000-strong Jewish community still living in Iran. “The situation for Jews living in Iran right now is very precarious, and I would strongly urge anyone, especially groups in America, Europe, and Israel, to avoid making comments in the media that could possibly place our Jewish loved ones there in jeopardy,” Parto warned. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)