The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said Monday it had arrested an exiled journalist who helped fan the flames of nationwide economic protests that struck the country at the end of 2017.
Neither the Revolutionary Guards nor a subsequent announcement on state television explained how authorities detained Ruhollah Zam, who ran a website called AmadNews that posted embarrassing videos and information about Iranian officials.
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The Revolutionary Guards said Zam, who had been living and working in exile in Paris, was "guided into the country" before the arrest. His channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram was apparently also taken hold of, as a message noting his arrest went out to its 1 million subscribers.
An announcement on state television referred to Zam "special prey." It said his detention was a victory of the Revolutionary Guard's intelligence department over Western services.
The report described Zam as the head of a psychological warfare network operated by Iran's enemies. The Revolutionary Guards alleged Zam was supported by the intelligence services of the US, France, and Israel, something the journalist has long denied. French officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
In 2017, Zam's Telegram channel spread messages about upcoming protests and shared videos from the demonstrations, which were held across some 75 cities and towns. Telegram shut the channel down following Iranian government complaints it had spread information about how to make Molotov cocktails. The channel later operated under a different name.
It's hard to overstate the power of Telegram in Iran. Of its 80 million residents, an estimated 40 million use the free app.
While authorities have banned social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and censor others, Telegram users can say nearly anything on the app. In the last presidential election, the app played a major role in motivating turnout and spreading political messages.
Zam, 46, was previously detained following the disputed 2009 re-election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Zam is the son of Shiite cleric Mohammad Ali Zam, a reformist who once served in a government policy position in the early 1980s. In July 2017, Zam's cleric father wrote a letter published by Iranian media in which he said he wouldn't support his son over AmadNews' reporting and messages on its Telegram channel.
"I found that you crossed the red line," his father wrote, referring to comments the channel circulated about Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "Our red line is the supreme leader, but you crossed the red line."
Meanwhile, Iran's president said his country was prepared to begin using even more-advanced centrifuges as its nuclear deal with world powers unravels.
Hassan Rouhani announced his nation would begin working with advanced IR-9 centrifuges. Although it is unclear what those centrifuges can do, Iran has a host of advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium more rapidly than those allowed under the accord.
