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The Islamic regime has embarked on a broad campaign of arrests following the massive protests on Ashura, December 27, according to a number of official and opposition news sites.

The arrests have not been restricted to Tehran. Ayatollah Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, the head of the Association of Teachers and Researchers of the Ghom Seminaries, was arrested last night, according to the Borna news site, close to the regime. The clerical organization has supported the opposition movement's calls for freedom and reform. Borna reported that Mousavi Tabrizi was arrested in Ghom as 'the [association] sought to create unrest on the occasion of Imam Hossein's shameh ghariban' (NB a gathering, usually around a meal, to remember those who are absent). The detention of the well-known ayatollah may have been the hasty decision of a local security official since Borna's report has since been removed from the site and Fars news issued a succint article in which an anonymous source denied Mousavi Tabrizi had been arrested. Fars news did not explain why Mousavi Tabrizi himself had not been sought for a confirmation or denial.

Ebrahim Yazdi, 76, secretary general of the Freedom Movement of Iran and a former foreign minister in the post-revolutionary period, was arrested at his home at 3 AM on Monday, December 28, by intelligence agents, per Radio Farda. Yazdi had already been detained on June 17 while undergoing medical tests for a cancer, shortly after the disputed presidenti... >>>