Iran arrests alleged opposition supporters after video circulates

Iranian authorities have arrested individuals accused of appearing in a video waving the flag of the banned opposition group, the People's Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (MEK), according to state television. The video, which circulated online in recent days, showed people riding motorbikes in empty streets while waving the white-and-red banner of the MEK.

State television announced that all identified individuals were associated with the MEK, though the number of arrests was not specified. The motorcade was said to have been traveling near the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, though the exact timing of the footage remains unclear. Founded in the 1960s as an opposition to Iran's Western-backed shah, the MEK was outlawed following the 1979 Islamic revolution and has since advocated for regime change in Iran from abroad.

Tehran has accused MEK members of cooperating with their arch-enemy, Israel. Iran's war with the US began on February 28, when US-Israeli strikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military officials.