On April 12, police raided the home of Narges Mohammadi, who had announced that she would have to turn herself in because the Islamic Republic of Iran threatened to seize the home of her bail guarantor, after her medical furlough. Police arrested her to complete serving a new sentence of 30 months and 80 lashes for organizing a prisoner sit-in during her last prison stay.
On April 6, the Washington Post published an opinion piece with an interview of Narges, which included her statement, “Economic sanctions, because they weren’t targeted or based on adequate knowledge of the state, weakened Iranians economically more than they weakened the Iranian regime...” She further clarified this position on Instagram. A storm of vitriolic attacks on Twitter ensued, from different positions but mostly personal slanders against her and her husband Taghi Rahmani, with little or no discussion of substance around the issues. Taghi Rahmani responded that attacks like this are a security game that the IRI foments and benefits from.