Yazd prosecutor's office seizes assets of a political activist abroad

The prosecutor's office of Yazd, the provincial capital, announced on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, the seizure of the assets of a political and social activist living abroad; the only reason given for the seizure is his activity online and the publication of posts and stories that the Islamic Republic's judiciary calls "against national security".

Mehdi Hasanpour, Yazd's prosecutor, said a car, a registered property, the balances of bank accounts and five mobile phone lines belonging to this political activist have been seized or blocked, and any transfer of his property is barred until the "final determination of the case". The activist's name was not given.

Seizing opponents' property, a new tool of transnational repression

This is not the first time Yazd's prosecutor's office has targeted the property of Iranian opponents living abroad. In Farvardin (late March to April) this year the same office seized all the registered property of two people identified by the initials "A.Sh.Z." and "M.M.A." on charges of "collaborating with the enemy". Before that, in a statement in Esfand 1404 (February to March 2026), the Islamic Republic's attorney general's office had threatened opponents abroad with confiscation of their property and punishment; a threat that has since been carried out against at least several opposition figures.

Seizing property inside Iran, alongside summoning and threatening families, is one of the ways the Islamic Republic tries to silence Iranians abroad. At the same time, members of parliament, with the "Countering Infiltration" bill, are trying to make even citizens' travel abroad subject to officials' permission, and, according to recent reports, the Islamic Republic's security bodies have rebuilt the unit that assassinates opponents abroad.

The Yazd prosecutor's announcement makes no mention of a court, a final verdict or an opportunity for the activist to defend himself; his assets were blocked before any trial, solely on the basis of what he wrote on social media.

Yazd's prosecutor's office seized the car, property, bank accounts and phone lines of a political activist abroad because of his stories.