Arrest of a Satellite Network Presenter in Mashhad

Khorasan newspaper reported on Sunday, July 2, that intelligence police officers arrested an Iranian presenter of foreign Persian-language networks who had traveled to Mashhad. According to the newspaper, the arrested individual, identified as 'F.D.' and known as 'Ali', had worked as a presenter for satellite channels such as 'Farsi1' and 'Persian TV'. The Khorasan newspaper stated that he was accused of 'propaganda against the regime and in favor of adversaries through presenting on satellite networks', but added that 'Ali', 38 years old, claimed in his 'confessions' that after traveling from Iran to Dubai, he was engaged in real estate visiting while also being a presenter for a request song program on satellite channels and denied any propaganda against the regime. The report further stated that after traveling from Dubai to Mashhad, he was pursued by law enforcement and was identified and arrested by the information and public security police of Razavi Khorasan upon receiving an order from the deputy prosecutor of Mashhad. The report claims that 'inappropriate and offensive' images were discovered from the arrested individual and adds that 'he was placed in the custody of law enforcement for further investigations'. About a month and a half prior, on May 17, it was reported that Mansoureh Hosseini, a former presenter of the 'Manoto' television network, who had traveled to Iran, was arrested. The ILNA news agency reported at that time that Ms. Hosseini had resigned from the 'Manoto' television network two months prior and returned to Iran. Mansoureh Hosseini had previously worked for the Hamshahri and Tehran Emrooz newspapers. Shortly before that, in early May, the Jahan News website reported that Sabri Hassanpour, spokesperson for the 'National Congress of Iranians for the Rescue of Iran' and presenter of the Persian-language 'Simaye Rahai' network in the Netherlands, was arrested in Tehran. Meanwhile, a news site called 'Human Rights and Basic Human Rights' claimed in a report published after the Jahan News website's announcement that Mr. Hassanpour had traveled to Turkey to visit his family and had been 'abducted' in 'one of the cities' of that country. In recent years, several Iranian journalists who collaborated with Persian-language media abroad, including Bahman Darolshafaee, Sarajeddin Mirdamadi, and Saeed Razavi Faqih, were arrested upon returning to Iran, with some later being released conditionally. Mostafa Azizi, a writer and producer for radio and television, Hossein Noorani Nejad, a member of the Participation Front party, Sajedeh Arab Sarkhi, a reformist political activist, and Kazem Barjasteh, a member of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, are among other citizens who have been imprisoned after returning to Iran in recent years.