Five Journalists Still Missing In Iran After Mass Arrests

Three days after the detention of 30 journalists at the office of liberal-leaning website Fardaye Eghtesad in Tehran, five remain missing, raising fears they have been detained.

The newspaper's editor, Ali Mirzakhani, deputy editor, Behzad Bahmannezhad, and three video-journalists have not returned home since Monday and no information has been disclosed regarding their whereabouts and conditions.

On Monday evening, security forces raided the office of the economic news site, detaining and holding 30 journalists incommunicado inside the building overnight. They also confiscated all office computers and electronic devices, including mobile phones, and interrogated the staff.

The judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan, released a statement on Tuesday, claiming that the raid and journalists’ arrests were not linked to journalistic activities but were under investigation by a security agency.

Iranian media and observers say the detentions might be linked to a recent revelation published about Iran's international clandestine fund transfers.