Iran Arrests 2 Women Journalists In Mass Raids; What Happened To Them?

The authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran arrested two women journalists – Nasim Tavafzadeh and Helaleh Nategheh – in mass raids on Saturday, according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The intelligence agents with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, arrested Nasim Tavafzadeh, the editor-in-chief of the local news website Moroor.org, and Helaleh Nategheh, an environmental news reporter for the outlet, from mass raids in Rasht, a city in the Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Iran. The Iranian authorities took two women journalists to an undisclosed location. 

What happened to 2 Iranian women journalists?

On Saturday, the Iranian authorities conducted mass raids in the northern city of Rasht. The two Iranian women journalists were among 20 people who were detained on Saturday. The majority of those arrested were women. They also had their electronic devices confiscated. In this way, the authorities tried to control the media. 

Sherif Mansour, Committee to Protect Journalists Middle East and North Africa (MENA) program coordinator, said, “Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release the two female journalists and the many others arrested in Rasht.”

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Why did Iran arrest 2 women journalists?

The Iranian authorities did not disclose the reasons for arresting two women journalists – Nasim Tavafzadeh and Helaleh Nategheh – in mass raids. The potential charges against the two women journalists is still not known.

Following the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in morality, the Iranian authorities arrested at least 95 journalists. 

Iran arrests journalists

In August, Iran re-arrested journalist Nazila Maroufian, who once interviewed the father of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa Amini’s father claimed in the interview that the Iranian authorities had misled him about his daughter’s death’s circumstances. The journalist was initially detained in November of last year. She had received a sentence of two years in prison. 

Narges Mohammadi, the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, was arrested in 2015. When she returned to the jail, she started her fight against the Iranian regime’s systematic use of torture and sexual violence against women.