This report narrates the events before and after the seizure of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and the mass arrest of its editorial team, based on interviews with informed sources conducted by “Parviz Yari”.
In recent days, “Farda-e-Eghtesad” resumed its activities after a 20-day suspension, while “Ali Tasnimi,” a news presenter, “Nikan Khabbazi,” the technical manager and studio head, and “Ali Nourian,” a board member and one of the asset managers at “Kian Financial Group,” remain in custody at the Shapur Intelligence Detention Center in Tehran.
Alongside the ongoing detention of these individuals, I have learned from informed sources that there has been increasing disagreement and tension between the security and judicial institutions of the Islamic Republic over the case of “Farda-e-Eghtesad’s” seizure.
On the afternoon of Monday, February 5, 2024, armed officers from Tehran’s Economic Security Police entered the editorial office of “Farda-e-Eghtesad,” seized the media outlet, detained all editorial staff at the office, and confiscated the mobile phones and all electronic devices of the employees.
According to sources, the editorial office of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” was the last unit of the Kian building to be seized by the Economic Security Police. This building, located in Tehran’s Argentina Square, is the headquarters of Kian Financial Group. The group describes itself on its website as a registered financial institution with licenses for brokerage, investment advisory, portfolio management, six investment funds, and financial information processing.
One week before seizing “Farda-e-Eghtesad,” Tehran’s Economic Security Police had inspected the IT department of Kian Financial Group and arrested several employees from this department. These detainees were gradually released after posting bail. However, on Monday, February 5, the police seized all Kian Financial Group units and detained over 200 employees in the building, confiscating their mobile phones and electronic devices.
In the early hours of Tuesday, February 6, after the families of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” journalists gathered in front of the Kian building and the event became public, some editorial team members and several Kian Financial Group employees were gradually released. However, six members of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and 12 employees and managers of Kian Financial Group were moved to the fifth floor of the building and their temporary detention continued.
Following the media coverage of the seizure of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and the detention of its editorial staff, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence, the IRGC Intelligence, and some officers from the Tehran Police Command Information Organization entered the Kian building.
This marked the beginning of serious tension between various security and judicial institutions of the Islamic Republic regarding this event. According to a source who spoke with us, the cause of this tension was objections from different agencies to the Economic Security Police’s actions without considering their repercussions: “The Economic Security Police entered the editorial office without proper planning or understanding of the number of ‘Farda-e-Eghtesad’ members and the structure of this media. Initially, they confiscated the mobile phones, tablets, and laptops of the members, and after the event became public, to prevent further news dissemination, they seized the mobile phones and electronic devices of everyone present in the Kian building; an action that made a simple inspection of one of Kian Financial Group’s offices appear as if dozens of journalists were being held hostage.”
On the afternoon of Tuesday, February 6, Tehran Prosecutor Ali Salehi personally visited the Kian building and interrogated and threatened the detained journalists of “Farda-e-Eghtesad.” He was opposed to the media coverage of the detentions. By the evening of that day, with the release of another detained cameraman, the number of detained members of this media outlet was reduced to five.
I have learned from informed sources that since his visit to the Kian building, the Tehran Prosecutor has emphasized halting the reporting on the seizure of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and the detained journalists and speeding up the inspections to allow the media to resume operations.
On Tuesday, as Tehran Prosecutor Ali Salehi was at the Kian building, two tweets were published about an hour apart, both accusing the media outlet and its detained members without mentioning “Farda-e-Eghtesad” by name. These tweets gradually became the main narrative in all speculations by other social media users and some media outlets about the reason for “Farda-e-Eghtesad’s” seizure.
The first tweet, titled “Not all media work is journalism,” was posted by a media activist who claimed that videos were made and published to undermine the National Security Council of Iran and oil sellers in the country. He implicitly accused “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and its editorial members of creating and disseminating these videos. This media activist claimed to have reported this event to one of the oversight bodies. In a section of his tweet thread, he labeled users of the hashtag “Journalism is not a crime” as emotional; a hashtag that had trended on Persian Twitter in support of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and its journalists.
An hour later, “Mahdi Keshtkar,” the CEO of the Judiciary News Agency, reacted to the wave of protests by journalists and Iranian citizens on social media regarding the seizure of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” and the detention of its journalists by tweeting that: “The inspection of a news site’s office was conducted for reasons completely unrelated to journalistic and media activities.” This tweet was immediately republished verbatim on the “Mizan” news agency website.
From Tuesday, February 6, and simultaneously with the continued detention of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” journalists and several Kian company managers in the Kian building, the Islamic Republic implemented a media protocol to disrupt the dissemination of information about this incident, which was also observed in similar events. Independent media and journalists were barred from reporting on this issue, a security atmosphere was created around the incident, judicial officers threatened the families and officials of “Farda-e-Eghtesad,” prohibiting them from reporting on the event and the fate of the detainees, while promising the families the early release of the detained journalists.
The information vacuum regarding this event was filled by republishing content from the tweets of the Judiciary News Agency CEO and the media activist mentioned in this report, accompanied by some semi-media outlets, media, and certain users, leading to a dominant narrative that lacked corroborative evidence.
On Friday, February 9, “Ali Mirzakhani,” the editor-in-chief of “Farda-e-Eghtesad,” and several Kian Financial Group managers were released after 10 days of temporary detention from the Shapur Intelligence Detention Center in Tehran.
On Saturday, February 10, “Behzad Bahman-Nejad,” the deputy editor of “Farda-e-Eghtesad,” “Ali Tasnimi,” the radio presenter, “Nikan Khabbazi,” the studio manager, “Mehrdad Asgari,” a video journalist for the media, and “Ali Nourian,” a board member of Kian, were transferred from the Kian building to the Shapur Intelligence Detention Center in Tehran.
According to my sources, Tehran prosecutor officials responded to the families’ protests about the reason for their transfer to the notorious Shapur Intelligence Detention Center by stating: “The Economic Security Police do not have a dedicated detention center.” Simultaneously, in response to the families’ protests about the continued detention of these citizens, prosecutor officials cited the investigator’s leave as the reason for the prolonged preliminary investigations!
On the evening of Monday, February 12, security forces temporarily transferred Behzad Bahman-Nejad, Ali Tasnimi, Nikan Khabbazi, and Mehrdad Asgari from the Shapur Intelligence Detention Center to the Kian building (the location of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” editorial office) for several hours and once again conducted searches and interrogations of these journalists at the location.
On this day, the families of the detainees were allowed to visit their loved ones. According to a source who spoke with us during the meeting between the detainees and their families, there was once again a verbal altercation between Ali Tasnimi and the officers, and the officers threatened him. This was at least the second verbal confrontation and strong objection by Ali Tasnimi regarding his detention and that of his colleagues. The first time was when the Economic Security Police entered the editorial office, and Tasnimi had objected to the illegal behavior of the armed officers, who had caused fear and psychological shock to the members of “Farda-e-Eghtesad.”
On Friday, February 16, Behzad Bahman-Nejad and Mehrdad Asgari were released after 10 days of temporary detention from the Shapur Intelligence Detention Center in Tehran. According to information received by us their release was accomplished without bail or guarantee.
On Saturday, February 17, Ali Salehi, Tehran Prosecutor, returned to the Kian building and ordered the Economic Security Police to evacuate the editorial office of “Farda-e-Eghtesad” to allow the media outlet to resume operations.
On Sunday, March 3, on the 20th day of the seizure of “Farda-e-Eghtesad,” the media outlet resumed its activities. However, as of the publication of this report, Ali Nourian, a board member and one of the asset managers of Kian Financial Group, Ali Tasnimi, the radio presenter, and Nikan Khabbazi, the studio manager, remain in custody at the Shapur Intelligence Detention Center in Tehran.