Iran police chief: 500 arrested since conflict began for sharing information with enemies — half provided targeting data

Iran's police chief made a significant public statement on Day 17, announcing that 500 people have been arrested nationwide since the conflict began on charges of sharing information with Iran's enemies. Half of those arrested, the police chief said, were involved in 'serious incidents' — specifically including individuals who provided precise location data on Iranian military and security infrastructure that was subsequently used in targeting by US and Israeli forces. The statement represents the most comprehensive official acknowledgment yet of the depth of intelligence penetration Iran has suffered during the 17-day conflict. The IDF has repeatedly cited precision strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites; Iranian analysts have suggested that some of this precision reflects human intelligence collection networks operating inside Iran. The announcement comes hours after Iran's provincial prosecutor in northwestern Iran separately announced the arrest of 20 individuals for similar offences — that regional operation now appears to be a subset of the wider 500-arrest national sweep. The police chief's statement signals a systematic crackdown on intelligence networks that Iranian authorities believe are facilitating the ongoing US-Israeli strike campaign.