Iranian lawyer Mustafa Nili, who has represented many political and civic activists as well as a number of those arrested during ongoing anti-government protests, has been arrested by intelligence agents affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
According to Fatemeh Nili, Mustafa Nili's sister, he was arrested at the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran on November 7. Agents then went to his home and confiscated his work and identity documents.
Since his arrest, she said she has yet to hear what the charges against him are.
Nili is one of several lawyers -- including Nazanin Salari, Bahar Sahraian, Mahmoud Taravatroy, and Amin Adel Ahmadian -- to have been arrested after representing people detained during nationwide protests sparked by the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly.
Since the beginning of the protests, at least 15 lawyers have been arrested. Two of them, Babak Paknia and Ghodseh Ghodsbin, have been released, while the other 13 are still being held in custody, according to rights groups.
Anger over the death of Amini has prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets to demand more freedoms and women's rights in the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.
More than 270 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to rights groups. Several thousand more have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others.
It's the second time this year that Nili has been arrested. Earlier, he was among a group of activists detained before they could file a legal challenge against the government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic in Iran, which suffered the Middle East's deadliest COVID-19 outbreak.