ISW: ‘The Raisi administration may be conducting a purge of local officials across Iran’

“The Raisi administration may be conducting a purge of local officials across Iran to install more loyal cadres,” reads the Iran Crisis Update of the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Report informs.

“Parliamentarian Jalal Mahmoud Zadeh accused President Ebrahim Raisi and Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi of conducting this purge in some towns. Mahmoud Zadeh represents Mahabad in Parliament and has previously criticized the security forces’ crackdown there,” ISW said.

According to the Institute, Raisi has historically used his authority in different regime positions to purge political opponents: “President Ebrahim Raisi traveled to Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province and met with local religious leaders, among others, on December 1. His visit suggests that Raisi and his administration concluded that the unrest in Sanandaj had subsided enough to allow a safe trip. Raisi’s travel is his first to Kurdistan Province since protests began on September 16.