Hosseyn Shanbehzadeh, Social Media Activist and Editor, Arrested

Hosseyn Shanbehzadeh, a social media activist, editor, and translator, was arrested on Tuesday, June 5, in Ardabil. He confirmed his arrest during a phone call with his family. Some news channels and social media users reported his arrest on Tuesday, and his brother, Abbas Shanbehzadeh, mentioned that attempts to contact him were unsuccessful and that they were unaware of his whereabouts. Hosseyn Shanbehzadeh's account on X (formerly Twitter) has also been disabled, and according to his brother, 'Hosseyn did not specifically publish his last tweet.' Although the reason for the arrest of this translator and editor has not been officially specified, an image of his reaction to a tweet from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic on X has been widely circulated, and many have cited this reaction as the reason for his arrest. The account of Ali Khamenei on X recently published a photo of him with members of the student national volleyball team, which had a sentence accompanying the image without a period. In response, Hosseyn Shanbehzadeh simply placed a dot under this image without using any words. Many users, by resharing this image, have written that the regime is even afraid of a 'dot' and have used the term 'abduction' to describe Mr. Shanbehzadeh's arrest. Hosseyn Shanbehzadeh was also tried and sentenced to imprisonment in 2019 due to his activities on social media and the accusation of 'insulting sacred values and the leader of the Islamic Republic.' He was active on X under the pseudonym 'Unicorn Editor' and edited significant literary works such as 'Heritage and Death and Life with Him' by Naguib Mahfouz.