Multiple arrests in Iran as Rouhani arrives in New York

Iranian authorities appear to be stepping up their crackdown on media workers amid President Hassan Rouhani’s just-concluded tour of Latin America and his arrival in the United States to address the UN General Assembly’s annual meeting. On Monday, reports surfaced of the arrest of Sadra Mohaghegh, the society editor of the Reformist Shargh Daily. His sudden detention has caused an outcry among journalists, activists and Iranian netizens, who have turned Mohaghegh’s name into a hashtag — especially after Mohaghegh’s Twitter account was taken down on Tuesday for unknown reasons.

According to Basij News, Mohaghegh was arrested “during an intelligence operation by security forces,” without specifying which agency was responsible for his arrest. Media reports accuse him of having collaborated with "counter-revolutionary" foreign media. The detention comes only days after the arrest of another Iranian journalist, Yashar Soltani, who is in charge of Memari News, a website that focuses on urban news and architecture.

The two arrests appear to be related. Mohaghegh and Soltani had both recently published a set of declassified reports involving Iran’s General Inspection Office, an organization linked to the Judiciary. The reports focused on the transfer of property held by the Tehran Municipality to a number of cooperatives and select managers below market value.

Soltani’s lawyer announced on Saturday that the plaintiffs against Memari News, which broke the story of the property deals, are Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Tehran City Council Chairman Mehdi Chamran. Soltani was reportedly imprisoned for not being able to provide a $57,000 bail.