TEHRAN -- Iran’s judiciary has seized assets belonging to as many as 240 individuals over collaboration with hostile regimes, including Israel, the judiciary’s Media Center reported on Monday.

The seizures were carried out in recent months under judicial orders and pursuant to a law imposing tougher penalties for espionage and collaboration with hostile regimes against Iran’s national security and interests, the report said.

According to the report, the individuals had collaborated with the regimes in question and contributed to inflicting extensive damage to infrastructure and public places, including schools, universities, research centers, industrial facilities, and other sites.

The law, formally titled the “Law on Intensifying Penalties for the Crime of Espionage and Collaboration” with hostile regimes, provides severe penalties for offenses including sabotage, intelligence gathering, and cyber, military or media collaboration.

Judiciary spokesman Ali Kazemi said, “These assets belong to the Iranian people,” adding that the judiciary would pursue the matter to ensure they were used to compensate victims for their losses.

According to the spokesman, some seized assets belonged to so-called journalists working for counterrevolutionary media outlets, including “Iran International and Manoto,” as well as activists, managers of hostile media outlets, and notorious overseas-based treasonous figures.

The judiciary identified a case recently resulting in a final judgment as one involving Sadeq Saedinia, who used to be active in the café industry.

According to the judiciary, Saedinia posted stories on social media and echoed calls for subversive action by counterrevolutionary and hostile groups. 

The judiciary ruled that the person in question had sided with the enemy and, by inciting his followers, helped create conditions for unrest in the holy Iranian city of Qom and subsequent destruction of public and private property during foreign-backed riots last December.

The judiciary said 182 bank accounts belonging to the collaborators had been frozen nationwide, while more than 2,000 inquiries had been made to the Central Bank regarding their accounts.
Separately, Iranian authorities have seized 875 firearms and arrested 677 people in Isfahan province since the start of the year, the provincial prosecutor said on Monday, in a widening crackdown on unlicensed weapons.
Muhammad Mousavian, prosecutor-general of Isfahan, said the seized weapons included 633 hunting guns and 242 military-grade firearms. Those arrested have had judicial cases filed against them and are being processed.
He said intelligence and police operations also led to the discovery and confiscation of 11,106 rounds of hunting and military ammunition over the same period.
Mousavian outlined several measures being used to combat illegal weapons offenses, including collecting unlicensed military and hunting guns from across Isfahan, accepting voluntary handovers of unlicensed firearms, continuous monitoring of professional and dangerous offenders with prior weapons records, and stepped-up action against traffickers of illegal arms and ammunition.
He said judicial, intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the province were determined to identify and prosecute those who possess or use unlicensed weapons, and that the prosecutor’s office would back those efforts and take legal action against violators.
“The security of the people is the red line of the province’s judicial apparatus, and we will deal with those who disturb or threaten it without leniency,” Mousavian said, praising the efforts of provincial police and security forces.