Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – An Iranian court has ordered the confiscation of an apartment belonging to writer Soroush Mozaffar Moghadam, who is currently in Germany, citing his “propaganda activities against the system” as part of recent nationwide protests, in a move underscoring the Islamic republic’s clampdown on dissent.
Hossein Yazdankhah, the judge of the Special Court, said on September 12 that he based his decision on a “request of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order to seize Mozaffar Moghadam’s assets.”
The judgment referred to a “report from the General Directorate of Intelligence of Khorasan Razavi” about the writer’s interviews with Persian-language media outlets abroad, labeling them as “extensive propaganda activities against the system in cyberspace and hostile media.”
The Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO), an organization under the direct control of Iran’s supreme leader, was established from properties confiscated after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
A Reuters probe revealed an extensive empire held by EIKO that was built on seizing properties from ordinary Iranians, religious minorities, business figures, and expatriates, often under false claims of abandonment.
The verdict against Mozaffar Moghadam highlights the writer’s departure from Iran in November 2022, his subsequent residence in Germany, and his failure to show up in court as reasons for the “confiscation of his assets.”
A section of the ruling stated that the power of attorney granted by the writer to his mother a day before he left as insufficient in preventing the confiscation of his “apartment” in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.
Mozaffar Moghadam, a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, had been summoned several times by the Islamic Republic’s security agencies following interviews with Persian-language networks abroad during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the September 16, 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody.
The writer has said he felt compelled to leave Iran because of safety concerns.
