Source NBC News: 

Authorities of Regime in Iran detained at least a dozen women’s rights activists on Wednesday, according to rights groups and local news agencies. The arrests are part of a concerted effort to head off protests to mark a year since the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising swept the Islamic Republic, rights groups say. 

Regime has been trying to stamp out dissent and reimpose strict dress codes as it struggles to reassert its authority in the wake of the sometimes-violent protests, which posed the biggest challenge to the clerical establishment since the 1979. 

Residents of the capital, Tehran, have observed a heavy security forces presence on the streets in recent days. And further north, in the province of Gilan on the Caspian Sea, the semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported the arrests of 12 people on Wednesday. 

The intelligence office said the members of the “team” had “a history of engaging in multiple anti-security activities” during the protests last year, and accused them of trying to “organize” people with prior protest activity, including “some youth,” the news agencies reported 

“They were in the process of creating the conditions for unrest and insecurity across Gilan Province and certain counties in Kurdistan Province,” the intelligence office said, according to Tasnim and Fars. 

The group told NBC News in an email that it has confirmation of the arrests of 12 women and one man in Gilan. “It paints a stark picture of a regime that is deeply concerned about the potential for renewed protest and is taking pre-emptive action to stifle any possible resurgence of popular unrest,” said Skylar Thompson, the group’s director of global advocacy and accountability.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor said Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, that she was “deeply concerned about the arrest of women’s rights defenders in Iran,” adding that their families are unaware of their location and accusations.