AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's now a week since the U.S. launched strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran - strikes, President Trump says, obliterated Iran's nuclear capacities. But today, Rafael Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, tells CBS News Iran could regain the capacity to enrich uranium in, quote, "a matter of months."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")
RAFAEL GROSSI: You are not going to solve this in a definitive way militarily. You are going to have an agreement. You are going to have an inspection system that will give everybody in the region and elsewhere the assurances that we can definitely turn the page.
RASCOE: That's from today's "Face The Nation." We have more on diplomatic efforts to curtail Iran's nuclear program in a moment. First, Iran's government continues to crack down on people it suspects of collaborating with Israel. Iranian state media reports that 700 people have been taken into custody in the past two weeks. Durrie Bouscaren reports.
DURRIE BOUSCAREN: Tehran is full of checkpoints right now, says, Zahra (ph), a 41-year-old women's rights activist.
ZAHRA: (Non-English language spoken).
BOUSCAREN: She says she recently served five months in prison for her activism, and she's afraid of being arrested again. That's why we're only sharing her first name. These days, Zahra tries to keep a low profile. One friend is in prison because of three tweets.
ZAHRA: (Through interpreter) Both the news and the judiciary are saying they've changed the definition of spying. Even following a Zionist page is an example of spying, even if you don't know if that page supports Zionism or not.
BOUSCAREN: There's a lack of information about the prisoners, Zahra says - where they are, whether they're physically OK. Amid a fragile ceasefire with Israel, Iran is grappling with evidence that Israeli intelligence infiltrated the country to carry out its attacks.
ZAHRA: (Through interpreter) This has increased their motivation to suppress critical voices and protesters. And if they don't, this might lose their power over people. This has resulted in more repression.
BOUSCAREN: Among the arrests are family members of Iranian journalists based abroad. At least half a dozen prisoners previously convicted of spying for foreign governments have been executed since June 13.
SHIVA MAHBOBI: And it is mainly to create fear.
BOUSCAREN: That's Shiva Mahbobi, co-founder of the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran. She says the Iranian government is in its most vulnerable position yet.
MAHBOBI: They've been attacked by Israel. Many of the official are dead. But then, more than that, regime is petrified of people coming on the street to overthrow the regime.
BOUSCAREN: Mahbobi says the crackdown is a grim reminder of the summer of 1988 and the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War.
MAHBOBI: They executed thousands of political prisoners. So the fear is now they might do the same thing.
BOUSCAREN: In the past two weeks, hundreds of Iranians fled overland to neighboring countries like Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia - like Miriam (ph), a 27-year-old computer programmer, who says she left after Israeli strikes began raining down on Tehran. She asked to only use her first name for safety.
MIRIAM: (Through interpreter) When I heard the sounds, I felt we were so uprooted, so homeless, as if we had no voice and no agency, and were tolerating blows for something we had no role in. We are hostages who are paying the prices of the bad decisions of other people.
BOUSCAREN: Now, in another country, she's not sure what the future holds, just that it will be somewhere else.
MIRIAM: (Through interpreter) Since I left Tehran, I feel like everything I achieved in my life has no value anymore.
BOUSCAREN: Others, however, are beginning the long journey home.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
BOUSCAREN: In central Istanbul, a group prepares to board a bus back to Tehran. A father named Mohsin (ph), who gave only his first name for his safety, just put his wife and children on a plane to Canada. Now he'll return to Iran so he can work to support them.
MOHSIN: (Through interpreter) The biggest problem the world is facing is that its politicians don't value human life.
BOUSCAREN: Repeated wars and domestic pressures, Mohsin says, have destroyed the fabric of Iranian society.
MOHSIN: (Through interpreter) I had to send my kids somewhere else so they could at least have a basic, quiet life. This society has been torn apart.
BOUSCAREN: He says he doesn't think it will ever be mended.
For NPR News, I'm Durrie Bouscaren, Istanbul. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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