Security police in Iran have summoned several journalists and active users on the social media platform X due to their critical posts about Mohammad Reza Aref, the First Deputy to the President, issuing a “serious warning.”
The summons to the security police and the threats against journalists for criticizing Mohammad Reza Aref are the latest examples of a series of restrictions that the First Deputy to the President has imposed on the media and journalists. On January, 2024, due to Mohammad Reza Aref’s presence at the inauguration of the “Telecom 1403” exhibition, journalists from the communications and information technology sector were barred from attending the event. The organizers of Telecom 1403 cited the “protocols of the Presidential Institution” as the reason for preventing journalists from attending an event in their specialized field.
In September 2023, following the controversial publication of a photo showing Mohammad Reza Aref’s son at the introduction ceremony of the Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade in the fourteenth government, several journalists reported on social media that the introduction ceremony for Sattar Hashemi, the Minister of Communications, was held without the presence of journalists. They stated that the ban on journalists’ attendance at this ceremony was ordered by Mohammad Reza Aref.
The imposition of restrictions and judicial and security actions against journalists during Massoud Pezeshkian’s presidency is not limited to cases involving Mohammad Reza Aref. According to an investigative report by the Free Folw of Information Organization (DeFFI), in the first 100 days of Massoud Pezeshkian’s presidency, officials, institutions, and state-owned companies, in addition to not retracting many of their complaints against journalists and media, filed new complaints against media professionals. During this time, at least 38 new legal cases were formed against media outlets and journalists, with over 50% (20 cases) of these complaints being filed by governmental institutions and officials.