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| Iranian Journalists Are Arrested and Accused of Links With Foreign News Media | Iranian Journalists Are Arrested and Accused of Links With Foreign News Media |
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| Security forces in Iran have arrested journalists from at least four Iranian newspapers and one news agency over the past few days and accused them of consorting with hostile foreign news media, the state-run press reported Monday. Iranian rights advocates called the arrests part of a broader campaign of intimidation to forestall political unrest before the presidential election in June. | |
| The official accounts did not clarify how many journalists had been arrested, the precise nature of the accusations against them or when they might be formally charged. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a media advocacy group based in New York, said at least 11 journalists had been seized, calling the crackdown the largest on Iranian news media since the unrest that swept the country four years ago. | The official accounts did not clarify how many journalists had been arrested, the precise nature of the accusations against them or when they might be formally charged. The Committee to Protect Journalists, a media advocacy group based in New York, said at least 11 journalists had been seized, calling the crackdown the largest on Iranian news media since the unrest that swept the country four years ago. |
| Accounts by the Mehr news agency and other official news outlets said many of the journalists had been taken into custody on Sunday after the raids on the outlets, all of which are regarded as reform-minded. One of the newspapers, Etemad, is close to a former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and had been raided the previous day as well. | Accounts by the Mehr news agency and other official news outlets said many of the journalists had been taken into custody on Sunday after the raids on the outlets, all of which are regarded as reform-minded. One of the newspapers, Etemad, is close to a former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and had been raided the previous day as well. |
| None of the arrests were reported by the raided organizations themselves. Some Iranian journalists said the omissions appeared to reflect fears of further antagonizing the Revolutionary Guards and affiliated security forces whose loyalties lie with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. | |
| The Mehr news agency said the arrested journalists had been accused of “collaborating with some of the Persian-language foreign media” — apparently an allusion to the Persian services of both the BBC and the Voice of America. The Fars news agency, without citing sources, said the suspects had tried to contact the foreign news media and had sought training on photography and filming with cellphone cameras. “Moreover, they wanted to learn how to assemble the pieces and send them to the BBC,” Fars said. | The Mehr news agency said the arrested journalists had been accused of “collaborating with some of the Persian-language foreign media” — apparently an allusion to the Persian services of both the BBC and the Voice of America. The Fars news agency, without citing sources, said the suspects had tried to contact the foreign news media and had sought training on photography and filming with cellphone cameras. “Moreover, they wanted to learn how to assemble the pieces and send them to the BBC,” Fars said. |
| The Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted the culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, as saying none of the accusations were media related. | The Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted the culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, as saying none of the accusations were media related. |
| “We are investigating this issue, and once we have more information, we will inform the media,” he was quoted as saying. “It seems that these individuals have been arrested for security reasons.” | |
| But Sherif Mansour, the program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa for the Committee to Protect Journalists, assailed the raids, saying, “With this wave of arrests, the authorities appear to be attempting to pre-emptively silence independent news coverage ahead of the presidential elections in June.” | But Sherif Mansour, the program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa for the Committee to Protect Journalists, assailed the raids, saying, “With this wave of arrests, the authorities appear to be attempting to pre-emptively silence independent news coverage ahead of the presidential elections in June.” |
| Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, an advocacy group based in New York, said the arrests came against the backdrop of increased political tensions in Iran over the coming election and Ayatollah Khamenei’s wish to avoid a repeat of the mayhem that followed the disputed 2009 campaign, which reformist candidates said was rigged in favor of the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. | |
| Although the next vote is five months away, Ayatollah Khamenei and his subordinates have been warning that Iran’s domestic and foreign enemies will use the campaign to foment discord in attempts to subvert the Islamist government that has been in power since the 1979 revolution. | Although the next vote is five months away, Ayatollah Khamenei and his subordinates have been warning that Iran’s domestic and foreign enemies will use the campaign to foment discord in attempts to subvert the Islamist government that has been in power since the 1979 revolution. |
| “There is a lot of nervousness in the regime, including a lot of infighting,” Mr. Ghaemi said. “This is the beginning of an attempt to have a very controlled and quiet election coming up, and not result in any popular outbursts.” | “There is a lot of nervousness in the regime, including a lot of infighting,” Mr. Ghaemi said. “This is the beginning of an attempt to have a very controlled and quiet election coming up, and not result in any popular outbursts.” |
| News organizations in Iran that are regarded as reformist, he said, “were the easiest to quiet down.” | News organizations in Iran that are regarded as reformist, he said, “were the easiest to quiet down.” |
| Some political infighting in Iran broke into the open last week with the disputed dismissal of the central bank governor, a move that appeared to precipitate a roughly 10 percent drop in the value of the rial, the national currency, already weakened from what government critics call economic mismanagement and the effects of Western sanctions on Iran. | Some political infighting in Iran broke into the open last week with the disputed dismissal of the central bank governor, a move that appeared to precipitate a roughly 10 percent drop in the value of the rial, the national currency, already weakened from what government critics call economic mismanagement and the effects of Western sanctions on Iran. |
| Cliff Kupchan, an Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm in Washington, said it appeared that Ayatollah Khamenei has become increasingly unsettled by Iran’s acute economic problems because of the possibility of instability. Mr. Kupchan said the ayatollah’s worries may have been reflected in a Jan. 15 statement by the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Nasser Shabani, that economic troubles could cause regional unrest. | Cliff Kupchan, an Iran analyst at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm in Washington, said it appeared that Ayatollah Khamenei has become increasingly unsettled by Iran’s acute economic problems because of the possibility of instability. Mr. Kupchan said the ayatollah’s worries may have been reflected in a Jan. 15 statement by the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Nasser Shabani, that economic troubles could cause regional unrest. |
| “Currently, the state of the economy is a national security issue, and it is very likely that Khamenei and his apparatus, the office of the leader, have become directly involved in major economic decisions,” Mr. Kupchan wrote Monday in an advisory to clients. | “Currently, the state of the economy is a national security issue, and it is very likely that Khamenei and his apparatus, the office of the leader, have become directly involved in major economic decisions,” Mr. Kupchan wrote Monday in an advisory to clients. |
Ramtin Rastin contributed reporting from Tehran, and Thomas Erdbrink from Amsterdam. | Ramtin Rastin contributed reporting from Tehran, and Thomas Erdbrink from Amsterdam. |