Rouhollah Zam, an Iranian activist who is considered a "counterrevolutionary" opponent active during the 2017-2018 protests in his country, was arrested, the Revolutionary Guards in Iran said on Monday (October 14th). The authorities do not specify the place or the date of his arrest. This man, who has lived in France in recent years, was "led by French intelligence and supported by those of America and the Zionist regime (sic)," according to the Iranian statement.
Rouhollah Zam led a channel called Amadnews on the Telegram encrypted messaging platform. He is accused by Tehran of having played an active role in the contestation of the winter 2017-18. At least 25 people were killed during these demonstrations - described as "sedition" by the authorities - having affected dozens of Iranian cities around New Year 2018.
According to the statement of the Guardians, Rouhollah Zam has "fallen into a trap" that was given him, during an operation deemed "elaborate and professional". The agents responsible for tracking him have achieved their ends "using modern intelligence methods and using cunning tactics," adds the text, published on Sepahnews, the official site of the Guardians of the Revolution.
"Terminus of the lie"
The statement said it was "a big operation, which shows the defeat of the intelligence services of the enemy and proves that they are lagging behind the power of the intelligence service". 'Iran.
The Revolutionary Guards accused Rouhollah Zam of leading a "large-scale psychological operation intended to sow discord between the system's authorities (the Islamic Republic of Iran's policy), to spread iranophobia and lies, to to raise doubts about religion among the younger generation, to pave the way for violent and terrorist actions, and to stir up riots and unrest in the country ".
At the request of the Iranian authorities, Telegram had agreed to close the Amadnews channel, which then had nearly 1.4 million subscribers, during the unrest at the end of December 2017, accusing the channel of instigating the "violence".
The group quickly re-appeared under a new name, "Sedaiemardom" ("The voice of the people" in French), that the boss of Telegram, Pavel Durov, refused to close judging while this new group called "peaceful demonstrations" .
According to the Iranian press, Rouhollah Zam is the son of a Shiite cleric who held cultural office in Tehran City Hall in the early 2000s.
In early March, Iran's state television broadcast a documentary titled "Terminus of Lies", which follows what it portrayed as the operation of an Iranian intelligence service in the process of trapping Ruhollah Zam, handing him supposedly secret information for it to broadcast via its usual channels.
The sequence featured WhatsApp exchanges between Rouhollah Zam and one of his former acolytes, arrested and exploited by the intelligence service responsible for the operation.
The guards of the Revolution have not published a photo to accredit the arrest of Rouhollah Zam, but claim that "additional information will be given later" on this case.
With AFP