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Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard says it has arrested an exiled journalist who helped fan the flames of nationwide economic protests that struck the country at the end of 2017.
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The Guard and a later announcement on state television did not explain how authorities detained Ruhollah Zam, who ran a website called AmadNews that posted embarrassing videos and information about Iranian officials. He had been living and working in exile in Paris.
The Guard said Zam was "guided into the country" before the arrest. His channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram was apparently taken hold of, too, as a message noting his arrest went to its 1 million subscribers.
An announcement on state television called Zam a "special prey." It said his detention was a victory of the Guard's intelligence department over Western services.
The report described Zam as the head of network of psychological warfare by Iran's enemies. The Guard alleged Zam was supported by the intelligence services of the U.S., France and Israel, something the journalist long denied. French officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
A channel he ran on Telegram spread messages about upcoming protests in 2017 and shared videos from the demonstrations, which occurred across some 75 cities and towns.
Telegram shut down the channel over Iranian government complaints it spread information about how to make gasoline bombs. The channel later continued under a different name.
It's hard to overstate the power of Telegram in Iran. Of its 80 million people, an estimated 40 million use the free app created by Russian national Pavel Durov. Its clients share videos and photos, subscribing to groups where everyone from politicians to poets broadcast to fellow users.
While authorities ban social media websites like Facebook and Twitter and censor others, Telegram users can say nearly anything. Read More – Source
