Bahman Dar al-Shafai Released from Evin Prison on Bail

The Khabar website close to Mir Hossein Mousavi reported that Bahman Dar al-Shafai, a translator and journalist, was released from Evin Prison in Tehran on Tuesday, March 4, on bail after approximately three weeks of detention. Mr. Dar al-Shafai was arrested at his residence in Tehran on January 14. He had previously worked with BBC Persian but returned to Iran two years ago after ending his collaboration with the media outlet, and since then, he has not engaged in journalistic activities, shifting his focus to book editing and translation. According to reports, this blogger and translator had been summoned and interrogated multiple times after returning from London to Tehran before his arrest. Prior to his migration from Iran and joining BBC Persian, Mr. Dar al-Shafai worked with various publications, including the newspapers Hamshahri, Shargh, Etemad Melli, and the magazine Chelcheragh. Safoura Tofangchiyan, Bahman Dar al-Shafai's mother, wrote a letter to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on January 21, protesting her son's arrest and stating, 'We did not vote for you just to lift sanctions.' Before Mr. Dar al-Shafai's arrest, Eisa Saharkhiz, Ehsan Mazandarani, Afrin Chit-Saz, and Saman Safarzadeh were arrested on November 2, and the IRGC announced after their detention that they had arrested 'members of a Western government infiltration network.' Mehdi Saharkhiz, Eisa Saharkhiz's son, reported that his father has been on hunger strike since February 22. Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders issued a statement holding senior Iranian officials directly responsible for Eisa Saharkhiz's life and health.