Mehr: The Mission of Detained Journalists is 'Selling the Homeland for Fixed Salaries'

On Saturday, Mehr News Agency reported, citing 'informed sources', that journalists recently detained by the IRGC in Iran have been accused of 'selling the homeland for fixed salaries' in dollars or euros and spying for foreign countries. The report lists 'four missions' for these journalists, including 'collecting information from inside Iran and sending it abroad'. Similar accusations had previously been published by media affiliated with the IRGC regarding journalists. Ibrahim Raisi, the Attorney General, referred to these journalists as 'an infiltrating network in media and social networks' as well as 'spies and mercenaries working for Americans'. Earlier, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, warned commanders of the IRGC about 'foreign infiltration in the political sphere aiming to influence decision-making centers'. However, the government of Hassan Rouhani has expressed dissatisfaction with the manner of these arrests through statements from the President, the Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Culture, with even Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, indicating that these arrests are not unrelated to 'political settling of scores'. The report, published on Saturday, November 30, also alleges that the detained journalists attempted to 'influence' prominent political and media figures by 'getting close to them' or creating discord among them. Mehr claims that the detained journalists were receiving payments 'continuously and in accordance with protective principles' for carrying out these 'missions'. It adds that the detainees were part of 'a rooted, intelligent network with organic, extensive, and long-term connections to entities related to the intelligence services of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands outside Iran'. In recent weeks, Eisa Saharkhiz, the former director of press at the Ministry of Culture during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, Afrin Chitsaz, a columnist for Iran newspaper, Saman Safarzadeh, a journalist for Andisheh Pouya magazine, and Hadi Heydari, a cartoonist, have been arrested by the IRGC in Iran. Jason Rezaian, a journalist for the Washington Post, has also been detained since July 31 last year on charges of 'espionage' and 'actions against national security'. The Washington Post has repeatedly described these accusations as baseless. Mehr adds that 'this network's first mission was to collect various information from inside Iran and send it abroad'. The report claims that 'in the second step, members of this network were tasked with producing reports and analyses and sending them abroad for publication on websites related to the opposition with the aim of blackening, human rights profiling, creating discord within Iran, and advancing Western goals to control public opinion in Iran'. 'Networking within Iran with various intelligence and operational functions' and 'getting close to prominent political and media figures with the aim of influencing them or creating discord among them' are cited as other objectives of this network. This report comes at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran is identified by various international governments and organizations, including the UN Secretary-General, special rapporteurs, and human rights committees, as one of the main violators of human rights in the world.