Kamal Jafari Yazdi, signatory of the Statement of the 14: his bank accounts frozen

The Islamic Republic's judiciary has frozen the bank accounts of Kamal Jafari Yazdi, a political activist opposed to the Islamic Republic and a veteran of the Iran–Iraq war, and seized their balances. The news reached free Persian-language media from people close to him on Thursday, 15 October 2026; judicial officials have given no explanation.

According to those who published the news, the pressure on Jafari Yazdi is not new and is not limited to the freezing of accounts. The exact date of the seizure, its amount and its legal basis are still unclear.

The Statement of the 14 and 13 years in prison

Kamal Jafari Yazdi is among the signatories of the so-called "Statement of the 14", a letter in which a group of political activists in 2019 called for Ali Khamenei to step down. After signing the statement he was prosecuted and sentenced to 13 years in prison. After several years in custody, Jafari Yazdi was released because of illness and the effects of his war wounds, but was arrested several more times afterwards and sentenced to new prison terms.

Asset seizure: a new tool of pressure

Seizing the accounts and assets of opponents has become one of the Islamic Republic's common tools of pressure on critics. A few days ago, too, the Yazd prosecutor's office seized the assets of a political activist living abroad, from his car and property to his bank accounts and phone lines, over his posts and stories. Besides prison, this method targets the livelihoods of opponents and their families.

After prison, the Islamic Republic has now shut the bank accounts of a war veteran who had called for Khamenei to step down.