Iran Escalates Crackdown on Media: News Outlet Studio Sealed

Iran’s security and intelligence forces sealed the studio of the liberal-leaning Fardaye Eghtesad (Economy's Future) media outlet on Thursday according to a report by Young Journalists Club (YJC).

On February 5 a number of the outlet’s journalists were arrested during a raid by security agents at their office in Tehran’s Argentina Square.

Security forces locked down and detained all 30 staff inside the building for 14 hours, confiscating their mobile phones and laptops.

Fardaye Eghtesad’s deputy editor-in-chief, Behzad Bahmannejad, a video journalist, Nikan Khabazi, and Ali Tasnimi were arrested according to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the raid and the arbitrary detention of Fardaye Eghtesad’s journalists urging Iran to “cease the practice of arbitrarily locking up members of the press.”

According to CPJ Bahmannejad, Asgari, Khabazi, and Tasnimi were detained for 4 days inside the outlet's newsroom. HRANA further reported the four journalists were transferred on February 9 to an undisclosed location.

On 21 February, the non-profit rights group Defense of the Free Flow of Information (DeFFI) reported that Bahmannejad and Asgari were released from Tehran’s Shahpoor Intelligence Detention Center while video journalists Tasnimi and Khabazi remained under temporary detention.