Dozens of Journalists Protest the Arrest of Journalists on 'Baseless' Charges

Dozens of Iranian journalists have issued a letter of protest, describing the charges made by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) against four recently arrested journalists as 'baseless', 'unfounded', and 'repetitive', calling for their 'immediate' release. The letter emphasizes that Eisa Saharkhiz, Ehsan Mazandarani, Saman Safarzaei, and Afrin Chitsaz were arrested on charges of 'baseless and repetitive collaboration with foreign media', and even the President of Iran has referred to these arrests as 'fabrication of cases'. The letter, which has 90 signatures, also describes the 'unfounded accusations from media affiliated with security and military institutions' against these journalists as 'contrary to the internal laws of the country and the international laws to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is committed'. In recent weeks, several journalists, including reformist Eisa Saharkhiz and Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, have been arrested by the IRGC's intelligence, which has claimed to have apprehended 'members of a Western government infiltration network'. Meanwhile, Iran's Attorney General, Ebrahim Raisi, referred to these journalists as 'an infiltration network in media and social networks' as well as 'spies and mercenaries in the service of Americans'. On the same day, President Hassan Rouhani warned that 'the word infiltration should not be played with'. Rouhani's reference is to the concept of 'infiltration' that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has spoken about frequently in recent months, warning against it, and several senior officials in the government, including the IRGC commander, have made threats following him. In contrast, Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, confirmed on Saturday that the purpose of these arrests was 'political settling of scores' and emphasized that the worst way to confront infiltration is to 'factionalize it'. Meanwhile, Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, expressed concern that the aim of these arrests might be 'to create terror in the expression of journalists before the elections'. However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, stated that 'one should not diminish the essence of infiltration and the importance of this issue by referring to possible factional misuse'. Khamenei has repeatedly warned about America's attempts to infiltrate Iran since the Vienna nuclear agreement last summer.