‘Silencing dissent by threatening family’: Iran cracks down on family of Australian protester

The mother of a leading Iranian-Australian protester has been jailed in Tehran and interrogated about her Australian relatives in what her family and experts fear is part of a wider attempt to silence Australia’s pro-democracy protesters.

Her Melbourne-based family members, who requested anonymity due to fear of retribution against their mother, told this masthead she was arrested on December 20 by government forces that have killed an estimated 520 protesters, arrested nearly 20,000 and began executing demonstrators.

The family of an Australian Iranian protester say the woman’s mother has been imprisoned in Tehran.Credit: Scott McNaughton

“She was at her work and four plain-clothed officers showed up and abducted her,” her son said. “My brother went everywhere trying to find her. They said ‘we haven’t arrested her, we don’t know anything’.

“Then after two days she called and said she is ... at Evin Prison. My mother made clear to my brother they have asked many questions about us. We have been very active [in demonstrations] here.”

In a separate case, local Iranian-Australian lawyer Nos Hosseini revealed one of her relatives had been detained and another had been interrogated. Both were questioned about relatives’ actions in Australia, she said.

Melbourne lawyer and anti-regime activist Nos Hosseini claims to have direct knowledge of six Australian-Iranians whose relatives had been arrested or interrogated since the recent protest movement began.Credit: Scott McNaughton

The reports provide the first known examples of the Iranian regime taking action against the relatives of participants in the Australian branch of a global protest movement seeking regime change in the Islamic theocracy. Since September, there has been renewed vigour in the protest movement following the death of 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini who died in custody in Iran after being arrested by the country’s morality police for not wearing a hijab. Her death sparked the biggest anti-government protests movement in years.

The federal opposition and teal independents have called on the government to impose further sanctions on Iran, which executes LGTBI activists and represses women and minorities. These MPs, along with some experts and rights activists, say Australia’s response to the regime’s actions was weaker than allies including the US, Canada, and the European Union.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have not been able to independently verify the claims due to the lack of court processes and documentation and the Iranian embassy did not respond to a request for comment. The claims are widely accepted as legitimate by academics and members of the Iranian-Australian community.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the Australian academic who spent 804 days in Tehran’s Evin prison, said she had heard direct reports from other Iranian Australians whose relatives had been persecuted.

“From my experience, one of the first things they do when they pick you up is go through your entire family tree to see who you are connected to,” she said.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert back at home; prison papers; on FaceTime in Iran.Credit: Josh Robenstone, Courtesy of Kylie Moore-Gilbert.

“Family members are then used as leverage in interrogations.

“There’s a lot of fear in the Australian community because of the involvement of agents and informers here in Australia, recording protests, sending threatening messages and letting people know they are being watched.”

The detained woman remains in Evin prison, has not been charged, and has been allowed to occasionally speak with another one of her sons, who is based in Iran. She had never attended a protest in Iran, her family explained, but sometimes posted news about demonstrations on social media. Hosseini’s relatives are no longer imprisoned.

Iranian Australians say they feel unsafe inside Australia’s borders. Several activists said local protests had sometimes turned violent after people suspected of being linked to the regime arrived and filmed them. One protest leader was beaten by unknown men and was admitted to hospital.

Kurdish activists hold portraits of Iranian Mahsa Amini, during a protest against her death.Credit: AP

Nos Hosseini, a Melbourne lawyer and anti-regime activist, said authorities told her relatives in Iran they knew where she and her relatives lived, what car they drove, and what time they got home. She said both she and her parents’ vehicles had been damaged, including windshields being smashed and tyres being slashed or tampered with.

Hosseini’s father is Jahangir Hosseini, a well-known trade unionist in Iran before he left in 1989. His cousin was jailed in Iran about a year ago and released months later. Another male relative of Nos Hosseini, who she did not want to identify, was interrogated by authorities in October and asked about his Australia-based family.

“They told him [the reason for his arrest] is because you talk to Hosseini,” she said, adding that authorities stated they were aware of WhatsApp conversations.

“My cousin’s son contacted my dad and said, please don’t contact my father again because you’re putting his life at risk.”

Hosseini claimed to have direct knowledge of six Australian-Iranians whose relatives had been arrested or interrogated since the recent protest movement began.

The head of Britain’s MI5 intelligence agency, Ken McCallum, said in November that Iran was plotting to kill or kidnap 10 British residents. He warned Iran’s intelligence services had crossed over into launching terrorist attacks on British soil. He argued Iran was the “state actor which most frequently crosses into terrorism” and labelled Tehran’s intelligence arm “a sophisticated adversary”.

Iran said on Saturday it executed British-Iranian national and former Iranian deputy defence minister Alireza Akbari for spying, defying calls from London for his release.

The death was condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called it “a callous and cowardly act carried out by a barbaric regime”.

Shahram Akbarzadeh, a Deakin University research professor of Middle East and Central Asian politics, said it was typical of the Iranian government to target family members.

“It tries to silence dissent by threatening family members and applying collective punishment on families if their relatives are involved in activities against the regime around the world,” he said.

“In some extreme cases, there have been abductions of diaspora activists in their own countries. There was a case last year when one was tricked into travelling to Turkey, from Norway, then taken to Iran and executed.

“Within Iran they can cut the internet and suspend social media apps, but in the diaspora, all the voices against the regime are free to be broadcast in international media outlets.”

The office of Penny Wong and DFAT were contacted and referred the inquiry to the Department of Home Affairs because it relates to potential foreign interference. Home Affairs did not respond by deadline.

In November, Wong warned Iran against pressuring protesters in Australia and said she had expressed her concern to Iranian diplomats in Australia.

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