Reyhaneh Tabatabai's One-Year Prison Sentence Confirmed

The website 'Kalemeh', close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leader of the Green Movement, reports that Reyhaneh Tabatabai, a journalist and member of the Islamic Participation Front of Iran, has been sentenced to one year in prison and two years of prohibition from membership in political parties, groups, and activities in media and cyberspace. Reyhaneh Tabatabai wrote on her Facebook page that her sentence regarding the mentioned punishments has been confirmed 'without any reduction.' According to 'Kalemeh', the trial session for this journalist, charged with what has been termed 'propaganda against the regime', was held on December 9 under the presidency of Judge Salavati, and on Tuesday, November 26, her sentence was confirmed after nearly a year of imprisonment. This journalist was arrested on June 21 of last year on charges of 'propaganda against the regime' to serve her six-month prison sentence and was transferred to Evin Prison, being released on November 20 of the same year after completing her sentence. Reyhaneh Tabatabai had previously been arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence in December 2010 and February 2013. She has worked as a political journalist for the Bahar newspaper and has a history of working with the Shargh, Farhikhtegan, and Kalemeh Sabz newspapers, the Sina news agency, and magazines such as Iran Farda and Chehelcheragh. On Tuesday, a day before Reyhaneh Tabatabai's renewed sentencing, Hadi Heydari, a journalist and cartoonist active in reformist media, was also arrested by security forces. Heydari's arrest comes two weeks after Iranian security forces detained at least four journalists, linking them to a 'network of infiltration.' Previously, Ebrahim Saharkhiz, the director of press affairs during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, Afrin Chitsaz, a columnist for Iran newspaper, and Saman Safarzadeh, a reporter for Andisheh Pouya magazine, have been arrested, with the IRGC labeling them as members of a Western infiltration network. Shortly after these arrests, Ebrahim Raisi, the Attorney General of the country, referred to the detained journalists as 'an infiltrating network in the media and social networks' as well as 'spies and mercenaries working for the Americans.' However, the government of Hassan Rouhani, through the President, the Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Culture, has expressed dissatisfaction with the manner of these arrests, and even the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, has stated that he does not see these arrests as unrelated to 'political settling of scores.' Hassan Rouhani had made promises during his election campaign and thereafter last year regarding the press and media in Iran, including 'granting freedom to the media to combat corruption,' 'delegating media issues to the profession,' or 'creating a secure environment' for media activists.