Response of Reporters Without Borders to the New Wave of 'Arrests, Summons, and Threats' Against Journalists

Reporters Without Borders condemned the recent arrest of four journalists and reported that 'several other' journalists have been 'summoned for questioning or threatened by phone.' In a statement released on Wednesday, November 4, the organization called on the officials of the Islamic Republic, particularly Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, to end the 'flagrant violation of freedom of information, which violates Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.' According to reports, from the morning of November 2 until now, Eisa Saharkhiz, the former director of press affairs at the Ministry of Culture during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of the Farhikhtegan newspaper, Afrin Chitsaz, a columnist for Iran newspaper, and Saman Safarzadeh, a journalist for Andisheh Pouya magazine, have been arrested. Ibrahim Raisi, the Attorney General of Iran, referred to the arrested journalists as 'an infiltrating network in the media and social networks' as well as 'spies and mercenaries working for Americans.' Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders stated that 'these fanciful scenarios of discovering spies and espionage networks among the press, especially as elections approach, have become a tragic joke.' The organization reported that in addition to the arrest of these four journalists, 'several others have been summoned for questioning or threatened by phone.' Reporters Without Borders did not provide details about the 'summons' or 'threats' against these journalists. However, the Saham News website had previously reported that '20 reformist journalists close to Hassan Rouhani and Hashemi Rafsanjani' were asked to separately visit 'Soapchi Street' on November 4 to be 'questioned by the interrogators of the Revolutionary Guards.' The arrest of these four journalists by the Revolutionary Guards occurred following repeated warnings from Ayatollah Khamenei about the United States' attempts to 'infiltrate' Iran. However, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, emphasized on Wednesday that 'some should not play with the word infiltration.' Meanwhile, Ahmad Tavakoli, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, expressed his ignorance about the reasons for these arrests and voiced 'concern' that pursuing the Supreme Leader's 'concerns' about American 'infiltration' in Iran 'might be reduced to security and law enforcement actions.' He emphasized, 'This raises the question of why this action was not taken before the Leader raised the issue of infiltration. The threat of infiltration has not been a new issue for us.' In addition to the arrest of four Iranian journalists, in recent weeks, Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American director of strategic planning at Crescent Petroleum, and Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen, have also been arrested. Meanwhile, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, November 4, that the hacking of emails and personal pages of 'several officials in the U.S. State Department' by cyber forces of the Revolutionary Guards is linked to the arrest of Siamak Namazi in Tehran, according to unnamed officials from the Obama administration. Regarding Nizar Zakka, the Islamic Republic's state television reported on Tuesday, November 3, citing 'informed sources,' that he is an individual with 'deep ties to the American intelligence and military community.' However, Mr. Zakka's family has denied any connection to military or intelligence organizations, and his lawyer stated that he only holds Lebanese citizenship and is not an American citizen.