At the time of his arrest, Zam was based in France, but the IRGC claimed in a statement that he was “guided into” Iran.
By RACHEL WOLFThe Telegram logo is seen on a screen of a smartphone in this picture illustration(photo credit: ILYA NAYMUCHIN)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its agents arrested Ruhollah Zam, a high-profile Iranian dissident who ran an anti-Iran Amadnews Telegram channel."Despite being under the guidance of the French intelligence service and under the protection of the U.S. and Zionist (Israeli) intelligence services, ... he (Zam) was trapped by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence service," an IRGC statement said, according to Reuters.Zam’s channel reportedly had roughly 1.4 million followers. Iran shut down the channel claiming it was brewing an “armed uprising,” but it later reopened under a different name, the BBC reported, adding that the channel’s name is a Persian acronym for “Knowledge, Struggle and Democracy.”At the time of his arrest, Zam was based in France, but the IRGC claimed in a statement that he was “guided into” Iran.On October 16 the French Foreign Ministry publicly condemned Zam’s arrest. French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll confirmed to Reuters that Zam was granted political asylum in France, but did not have details regarding his arrest outside of France.“We recall our commitment to the respect for the rule of law, including freedom of expression and the right of asylum, and strongly condemn the arrest of Mr Zam,” Muhll told Reuters.Following Iranian reports that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) assisted in Zam’s arrest, the KRG promptly denied that it played a role."Zam has never been in Iraqi Kurdistan to be arrested there,” KRG spokesman Jutyar Adil told Radio Farda.The IRGC reported Zam was contributing to “the enemy’s media network,” conducting “psychological warfare” and was connected to Israeli, American and French intelligence agencies, Sky News reported.Zam’s wife, Mahsa Razani, said on television that IRGC agents kidnapped her husband in Baghdad, Iraq, Radio Farda reported.
“My husband was abducted,” Mahsa Razani, Mr Zam’s wife, told the BBC Persian Service, Financial Times reported. “I saw [reports] of his arrest on Iranian television and could not believe it until I saw the video when I realized he was kidnapped.”It’s estimated that there are 40 million mobile phone users in Iran, almost all of whom are registered on the encrypted Telegram app, according to Sky News.
