The arrests have raised fears that a new wave of repression is coming, as the government seeks to root out spy networks and clamp down on any dissent.

Iran had not only emerged from this war with a justifiable claim of achieving moral, psychological and strategic victory over both the Americans and Israelis. In this regard, the ceasefire announced by President Trump looks more like a strategic withdrawal to pause the punishing barrage of missiles that Israel had been subjected to by Iran,

"Khamenei's position is surely weakened," Arash Azizi, who unveiled an alleged plot against the supreme leader, told Newsweek.