Javad Aghajan nezhad, the managing director of the “Bi-Ta’rof” news website, has been transferred to prison to serve a one-year imprisonment sentence. The case was initiated following a complaint filed by Yaghoub Huoshyar, the Mayor of Tabriz, against the journalist.
According to a report by the DeFFI, Javad Aghajan nezhad was arrested on Monday, February 3, 2026, after appearing at the Execution of Sentences Unit of the Tabriz Public Prosecutor’s Office and was subsequently transferred to Tabriz Prison.
Based on documents provided to DeFFI, the court convicted Javad Aghajan nezhad of “spreading false news by resorting to unreal and forged documents” and sentenced him to one year in prison, along with a supplementary penalty of a two-year ban from any journalistic or media-related activities.
The case stemmed from a complaint by Yaghoub Huoshiyar, the Mayor of Tabriz. Aghajan nezhad had previously published a report on his Instagram page claiming that the Tabriz mayor had purchased a house in Turkey—a claim that was denied by Yaghoub Huoshiyar and was removed from the journalist’s page shortly afterward.
Javad Aghajan nezhad is a journalist and the managing director of the “Bi-Ta’rof” news outlet. He has previously faced judicial and security measures due to his professional duties. In 1400 (2021–2022), he was assaulted by unidentified individuals in Tabriz, resulting in a broken nose.
According to the annual report by the Defending Free Flow of Information (DeFFI), Iranian journalists and media outlets are experiencing an unprecedented period of security pressures, judicial actions, and deliberate disruptions to their professional activities—a situation the organization has described as a “militarization against the free flow of information.” The report states that in 2025 alone, at least 225 journalists or media outlets faced judicial or security measures; 25 journalists or media managers were collectively sentenced to more than 30 years in prison and 293 million tomans in fines; at least 148 new judicial cases were opened against journalists and media outlets; and eight media outlets were shut down.