Tehran Regime Threats: Iranians in India pull down anti-regime posts after Tehran threatens property seizure | Dehradun News – The Times of India

DEHRADUN: Iranians in India, many of them long vocal against the regime in Tehran, have begun limiting their social media presence and deleting anti-regime posts after statements and warnings by the Iranian prosecutor general’s office on Monday said the govt there would confiscate properties of Iranians living abroad for backing US-Israel attacks on the country. The office also threatened to impose heavy penalties, setting off fresh anxiety among families that still have relatives, homes, businesses and inheritance claims in Iran.For many here, the warning was enough to trigger immediate self-censorship. “We are aware of the diktat and are aware of what the regime can do. On Monday, after coming across it, I have already deleted many posts from my social media account which were against the regime. On Tuesday, I received a direct threat call against posting anything that opposes the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei,” said an Iranian woman in India who has over 10,000 followers on Instagram and requested anonymity. She said she did not own significant property back home, but that was not what frightened her most. “I can’t afford to put them into danger because of my actions. The regime can go to any extent, which has been evident in the recent past,” she said, referring to her family in Iran.Others said the threat felt real because they had seen similar punishment before. Roya, an Iranian who agreed to be identified by her first name, said her family had already lost major business interests and properties in 1988 on allegations of working against the regime. “My father then lost his carpet factory, an int’l logistics business and at least 12 apartments. The shutdown of his business left 500 employees jobless. The freezing of bank accounts robbed him and my grandfather of what they had earned by working tirelessly over several decades. I have two apartments in Iran and don’t want to lose them as it is all that my family has now,” she said.For Roya, the fear is not only financial. She said memories of that earlier crackdown still live with her physically. As a child, she said, she would tremble whenever the doorbell rang or the landline phone rang, terrified that someone from the regime would arrive, barge in and take her father away. “That fear still lingers inside me. I can’t afford to put him and my other family members in Iran under danger,” she said.The atmosphere has hardened further online, some Iranians in India said. Asadi, an Iranian living in Mumbai for nearly four years, told TOI that since news of possible property confiscation began circulating, several Telegram channels run by regime sympathisers had been posting photographs of Iranians living abroad and protesting against Tehran, branding them traitors and threatening action. “The post that I came across features photos and details of around 20 Iranians from the West with a caption saying, ‘Being a traitor doesn’t go without punishment anymore. They will be identified,'” he said. According to Asadi, the messages threatened punitive action including revoking citizenship, banning entry to Iran, confiscating property and stripping inheritance rights. “Since Monday, all the Iranians have become more careful on social media and are desisting from posting anything anti-regime,” he said.He added that the strikes by the US and Israel on civilian infrastructure inside Iran had made the situation more complicated for many expatriate Iranians. “Those protesting in foreign countries were against the regime and were supporting the strikes with the hope that they would oust it. But now, when they are attacking Iran’s civil infrastructure, historical buildings and oil depots, how can we support the foreign forces? They are now harming the common Iranians,” said Asad.