Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C) receives a gift from Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) in Tehran November 23, 2015. REUTERS/leader.ir/Handout via Reuters
(Reuters) - Ahead of two key elections in Iran in February, the Supreme Leader's hard-line allies have cracked down on activists, journalists and artists to try to tighten their grip on the country’s faction-ridden politics, officials and analysts say.
Rights groups and opposition websites said dozens were summoned by the intelligence ministry for interrogation and had been detained. The Iranian government has denied there has been a wave of arrests, describing the reports as "baseless".
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