On June 15, 2025, Iranian security forces arrested Mostafa Mehareen (also written Mehr Ayeen), an assistant professor of sociology at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies in Tehran, because of an open letter that he had written criticizing the Iranian government.
The arrest took place two days after Israel launched military strikes on Iran, ostensibly aimed at degrading or eliminating Iran’s nuclear program. That same day, Iran retaliated with strikes on targets inside Israel. Against the backdrop of the armed conflict, Iranian authorities escalated arrests of civil society activists, including scholars and students.
Mehareen’s letter was written to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. It criticized the Supreme Leader, the Iranian government, and proposed political reforms, including: an end to the war, a return to negotiations, the release of political prisoners, the dissolution of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, constitutional amendments, a national referendum, and the Supreme Leader’s resignation. Mehareen also accused Iran’s government of failing to represent the will of the Iranian people.
Shortly after his letter was published, Mehreen was arrested. Media reports stated that the letter was the basis for legal proceedings against Mehreen. Reports about the conditions of his arrest differed, with one report suggesting that he was being held in solitary confinement at the Greater Tehran Penitentiary and was given limited contact with his family. According to the Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency, he was released on bail on July 22, 2025.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary imprisonment and prosecution of a scholar in apparent retaliation for the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and assembly — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and undermine democratic society generally.
Update 02/12/2026: Mehareen was later sentenced to five years in prison on charges related to gathering and conspiring to commit a crime, propaganda against the government, and insulting Iran’s Supreme Leader. On February 5, 2026, after his appeal was rejected, Mehareen posted to Telegram that he had received notice that he must report to prison within three days to begin serving his sentence.
Sources:
https://hengaw.net/en/reports-and-statistics-1/2025/06/article-6
https://www.en-hrana.org/sociologist-mostafa-mehraeen-faces-legal-action-over-open-letter-to-supreme-leader/
https://www.en-hrana.org/evin-prison-evacuated-after-airstrikes-detainees-transferred-amid-inhumane-conditions-and-family-blackout/
https://iranfocus.com/iran/54588-repression-by-irans-regime-under-the-fire-of-war-abduction-arrest-and-internet-shutdown/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DMaej01zuxX/
https://www.instagram.com/en.hrana/p/DL9vprGM2NA/?hl=en
https://www.iranintl.com/202602044296
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/33671293.html