CAIRO — Iran's government detained relatives of exiled opposition figures and began seizing their assets in March under an anti-espionage law approved during last year's 12-day war with Israel. The judiciary has also threatened to confiscate property belonging to critics of the country's rulers who live abroad.

On March 15, intelligence agents in Tehran detained Ali Razzagh, the brother of exiled opposition figure Hossein Razzagh, according to Hossein Razzagh. Ali Razzagh was taken from his home and called his wife for a few seconds from a detention center run by Iran's Intelligence Ministry, which said it was reviewing Ali Razzagh's contact with his brother. The family has been unable to contact Ali Razzagh since his detention.

In separate cases, a 20-year-old woman was detained on March 10 in Arak and held for a week before being released on bail and placed under a travel ban. The mother of another exiled opposition figure was detained from her home in the city of Urmia last month; she requires daily insulin doses. At least one friend of an activist abroad was also detained and questioned about contact with that activist.

The detentions coincided with a broader crackdown. Iran Human Rights tracked several hundred detentions in Iran since Feb. 28 using its networks in the country and state media reports. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said the full number of detentions is likely far higher than the several hundred tracked by the group. Iranian state media regularly report arrests around the country and describe detainees using terms such as mercenaries, agents of Israel and the United States, royalist thugs, or traitorous elements.

On March 31, a judiciary spokesman said on state television that over 200 indictments for property confiscations have been or are being issued. Mohsen Yeghaneh and Ali Sharifi Zarchi, who expressed support on social media for anti-government protesters, were among those targeted. One person who had expressed support on social media for Reza Pahlavi — the son of Iran's last shah who has organized an opposition movement abroad and supported U.S.-Israeli strikes — found that his assets in Iran had been confiscated and his bank accounts blocked.

Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was detained by intelligence agents from her house in Tehran, according to Mehraveh Khandan. Sotoudeh had been out on bail for health reasons following an earlier detention. Hossein Razzagh had represented a group of Iran-based opposition figures, including Sotoudeh and Narges Mohammadi, in planning the Iran Freedom Congress, an opposition conference in London intended to bring together pro-democracy groups. Planning for the conference began shortly before the war.

Israeli airstrikes have targeted buildings connected to Iran's judicial system. Lawyer Musa Barzin said of the courts, "It's like they are half-closed. A lot of judges are staying home."