Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at a military ceremony. Undated
Leaked documents from Iran’s Fars news agency say the at least 115 military personnel have been arrested on charges of participating in the ongoing protest movement.
The files hacked by the Black Reward group reveal that as many as one percent of all those arrested during the protests after the death of Mahsa Amini were military personnel.
Earlier, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, President Ebrahim Raisi and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had announced at a joint meeting that such “baseless” reports are not “valid”.
However, as reports of the defections among armed forces continued, Hossein Rahimi, the police chief of Tehran, called for more financial support for security agents.
Reports say the regime forces have also arrested a former IRGC commander in an attack on his home, confiscating his personal belongings.
General Mohammad Bagher Bakhtiar had earlier published an audio file, accusing the Islamic Republic of hiding the reason behind Mahsa Amini’s death, who was killed in police custody in mid-September, stating that reliable sources have found out Mahsa Amini succumbed to the “injuries to her skull.”
The government never took responsibility for her death, claiming that she passed away due to a pre-existing illness.
He also stated the authorities of the Islamic Republic are “ambitious” saying if “common sense” had been exercised by accepting responsibility and apologizing for the incident, perhaps there would have been "fewer consequences.
Regarding the slogans by protesters against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Bakhtiar emphasized that “the people are chanting slogans directly against the Leader. People do not want you. Understand this!”