Full Analysis Summary
Arrests during Iran protests
Iranian authorities announced the arrest of four individuals, including three named reformist figures.
Officials accused the detainees of trying to destabilise the country during nationwide antigovernment protests and of acting in the interests of the United States and Israel.
State media and the judiciary identified Azar Mansouri, head of the Reform Front, former deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh, and ex-parliamentarian Ebrahim Asgharzadeh.
The fourth detainee was not publicly named.
The Reform Front said Mansouri was taken from her home by IRGC intelligence.
The IRGC has reportedly summoned other senior reformists.
The arrests come against the backdrop of large protests that began over economic conditions and expanded into wider antigovernment unrest earlier this year.
Coverage Differences
Framing / emphasis
West Asian reporting (Al Jazeera) closely mirrors state-language about charges but presents them as authorities' claims, while the Western mainstream source (The Guardian) frames the arrests as part of a broader crackdown on human-rights defenders and critics. The smaller outlet (iwcp.net) reports the state and judiciary wording directly and highlights official accusations about U.S. and Israeli interests.
Detail / naming
All three sources name Mansouri, Aminzadeh and Asgharzadeh; they differ in emphasis on whether the fourth detainee is identified and on whether the reporting foregrounds the Reform Front’s account of IRGC involvement or state accusations.
Allegations over Iran arrests
Authorities and judicial officials accused the detainees of organising and directing actions intended to disrupt Iran’s political and social order, and of seeking to legitimise or 'justify' what the state calls 'terrorist' street actions during a period it describes as one of heightened external military threats.
Prosecutors reportedly said the signatories were 'in agreement with the Zionist regime and America' and accused them of undermining national unity.
Defenders and critics, by contrast, say the arrests target those who publicly condemned security forces' conduct.
Coverage Differences
Language / rhetorical charge
The state-linked language reported by iwcp.net and Al Jazeera uses terms like 'legitimise “terrorist actions”' and frames charges in terms of external threats, while The Guardian reproduces prosecutors’ harsher rhetorical denunciations (for example quoting the judiciary head) and foregrounds critics’ view that such charges aim to silence dissent.
Attribution / reported claim
Al Jazeera and iwcp.net consistently attribute the accusations to 'authorities', 'state media' or 'the judiciary' (reporting the state's claims), whereas The Guardian quotes prosecutors and frames the accusations alongside criticism that the arrests followed signatories who had demanded accountability.
Reporting on arrests
Reports differ on how the arrests were carried out and on who else has been targeted.
iwcp.net and Al Jazeera report that Mansouri was taken from her home by IRGC intelligence, and that summonses have been issued to other Reform Front figures.
The Guardian, by contrast, places the arrests in a wider pattern of detentions of activists who signed a public statement demanding a transparent referendum and alleging organised state killings.
Coverage Differences
Detail emphasis
iwcp.net and Al Jazeera emphasize IRGC intelligence’s role and active summonses within the Reform Front; The Guardian emphasizes the arrests as part of a pattern of detaining signatories and human-rights defenders, listing other named detainees and prior sentences.
Scope / prior cases
The Guardian reports additional named detainees and references a separate earlier conviction (Narges Mohammadi’s new sentence), which the other two outlets do not mention in these snippets, indicating differing breadth of coverage.
Disputed protest casualty reports
The articles diverge on casualty figures and on how they present the protests' severity.
Iranian authorities' official count is reported at roughly 3,000-3,117 dead, while rights groups and monitors such as the U.S.-based HRANA report substantially higher tolls and ongoing investigations into thousands more cases.
Some activists described the killings as an 'organised state crime against humanity,' a claim reported by The Guardian but presented alongside state denials and contested figures in other pieces.
Coverage Differences
Fact / numerical discrepancy
iwcp.net and Al Jazeera both report the official count (3,117 in iwcp; 3,117 reported by Tehran in Al Jazeera) and contrast it with HRANA’s higher verification (6,854) and investigations, whereas The Guardian gives a rounded official figure (3,000) and highlights activists’ language accusing the state of organised crimes.
Moral / legal framing
The Guardian reproduces protesters’ and activists’ strong moral-legal framing (quotes describing the killings as 'an organised state crime against humanity'), which the other sources report as claims or references rather than adopting that language as established fact.
Competing media narratives
Taken together, the sources show two competing narratives.
Official accounts reported by iwcp.net and Al Jazeera emphasise state security, external threats, and legal accusations against reformists.
Western mainstream coverage in The Guardian foregrounds human-rights concerns, prior activist statements, and allegations that the arrests are intended to silence dissent.
Each outlet attributes claims differently: Al Jazeera and iwcp.net primarily echo authorities and state media wording, while The Guardian gives more space to critics' language and to a wider list of detained activists.
Coverage Differences
Narrative / source influence
Source type shapes narrative: West Asian Al Jazeera and 'Other' iwcp.net report the judiciary and state media's accusations and emphasize security rationales, whereas Western mainstream The Guardian frames the story as part of a human-rights crackdown and includes activists’ charged descriptions; each source attributes the quoted claims (e.g., judiciary statements) to their speakers rather than presenting them as uncontested fact.
Omission / breadth
The Guardian reports a broader list of named detainees and prior sentences (e.g., Narges Mohammadi) that are not present in the provided iwcp.net and Al Jazeera snippets, showing a difference in scope and context provided.