Iran says it detained 21,000 suspects during the June war with Israel

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s police detained 21,000 suspects during the 12-day air war between Israel and Iran in June, state media reported on Tuesday.

A report by state TV quoted a police spokesperson, Gen. Saeed Montazeralmahdi, as saying people reported the suspects to the authorities. “The arrest of 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war indicated high awareness and participation of people in providing security," he said.

Montazeralmahdi did not elaborate on what charges the suspects might face. However, he said more than 260 were suspected of spying and other 172 were arrested because of illegal filming.

He added that police put more than 1,000 checkpoints across the country during the conflict, between June 13-24.

This is the first time Iran’s police has given a total number of arrests during the war. In recent weeks Iran occasionally reported about the arrests of suspects on spying charges.

Since the end of June, Iran has executed seven men convicted of spying for Israel, sparking fears from activists that the government could conduct a wave of executions.

Israel carried out waves of airstrikes on Iran, killing nearly 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Retaliatory Iranian strikes killed 28 people in Israel.