Response of Radio Farda Director to Claim by Deputy Commander of 'Sepah Saheb al-Zaman Isfahan'

Arman Mostofi, the director of Radio Farda, denied the claim made by the deputy commander of 'Sepah Saheb al-Zaman Isfahan' regarding the arrest of a journalist from this media outlet during the unrest in January. According to news agencies Tasnim and Fars, Mojtaba Fada, the deputy commander of Sepah Saheb al-Zaman in Isfahan, claimed in a speech on Sunday evening that on January 8, the first day of protests in Isfahan, a person he referred to as a 'Radio Farda journalist' was arrested by the Sepah. He stated, 'On Friday, January 8, the first person arrested in Isfahan next to the Si-o-se-pol bridge was a Radio Farda journalist, someone who was transmitting news and information about the disturbances to abroad from the riverbed.' Mojtaba Fada further added, 'None of the individuals arrested in this incident were unemployed; they had mobile phones worth less than 1.5 million tomans, some of them had consumed alcoholic beverages, were present at the scene, and were chanting slogans in support of Reza Shah, who had lost much of Iran's territory.' Radio Farda denies the claim made by this commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps regarding the arrest of its journalist during the recent unrest in Isfahan. Arman Mostofi, while denying this claim, referred to the history of such news reports and said, 'About a month ago, they also claimed that one of the detainees confessed to having connections with Radio Farda. I do not know under what conditions and how these confessions are obtained, but the reality is that Radio Farda has no journalists in Iran; neither permanent, nor part-time, nor freelance.' He added, 'We have absolutely no working or professional relationship with anyone in Iran.' Previously, several other officials of the Islamic Republic had introduced political groups inside and outside the government and foreign countries as responsible for the protests and gatherings in January without providing evidence. During these protests, which took place in dozens of cities across Iran, at least 25 people were killed and about five thousand were arrested. Protesters chanted harsh slogans against the leaders of the Islamic Republic, Iran's regional policies, and also slogans in support of Reza Shah and the Pahlavi royal family.