Iranian authorities are targeting overseas critics and their relatives through asset seizures.
Iranian authorities are freezing and confiscating property to punish critics overseas, including by targeting relatives who remain in Iran.
Iran asset seizures are targeting dissidents and journalists abroad, with authorities also pursuing their relatives’ property at home. The measures extend government pressure beyond the country’s borders.
Authorities have confiscated homes and businesses, taken family heirlooms and raided savings. When critics held few assets in Iran themselves, officials went after family members instead.
For one retired couple, the first sign of trouble came in early May, when their bank cards stopped working. They then approached the authorities and learned that Iran’s intelligence ministry had ordered a freeze on their assets.
Iran asset seizures put pressure on relatives
The couple’s daughter, Mehrnoush Najafiragheb, said authorities were punishing her parents for her sister’s activities overseas. Her sister, Noushin Najafiragheb, lives in Europe and had posted comments opposing the Iranian government on social media.
As the family challenged the freeze, they encountered dozens of others facing similar threats, Mehrnoush said. Those families also risked losing their life savings because of relatives’ actions abroad.
Mehrnoush recalled her mother describing the discovery that other families shared their predicament. Meanwhile, she said Noushin had declined to speak publicly about the case to avoid further government pressure on her family.
The family’s account illustrates how financial penalties against relatives can reach government critics living outside Iran.
