Mohammad Parsi, a journalist and editor with an active social media following, was arrested by intelligence agents of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) outside his home on February 4, 2025, and was released on bail on April 17, 2025, Parsi told CPJ.
CPJ initially considered Parsi missing after he became unreachable following a telephone summons from police. Security agents reportedly raided his home the same day, confiscating mobile phones and electronic devices belonging to him and his family, and no information about his whereabouts was available for several weeks.
Parsi told CPJ that he spent nearly all of his detention in solitary confinement at Tehran's Evin Prison, except for his final week in custody. Authorities accused him of "propaganda against the regime," "creating the grounds for the January protests," and "spreading false information."
Following his arrest, security agents searched his home and seized electronic devices belonging to him and his family, Parsi said. He added that authorities have still not returned his phone and other confiscated belongings.
Parsi previously served as editor-in-chief at the literary monthly Kandoo, which was later suspended, and as editor-in-chief of the news website Khordad-e Sabz. In recent years, he has primarily been active on social media, particularly Telegram.
Parsi has faced repeated judicial harassment in recent years, including a fine in July 2023 for his reporting on Nika Shakarami, a teenager killed during Iran’s 2022 nationwide protests.
Parsi said that in June 2024, after he published a post on X criticizing Tehran Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami, security agents raided his home, confiscated his mobile phone and laptop, and opened a judicial case against him.
CPJ's email to the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York requesting comment did not receive a response.