Iranian security forces arrested Mehrnoosh Tafian on September 25, 2022, from her home in her hometown of Ahvaz, in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
Tafian is a freelance reporter covering local news including for the state-run Mehr News Agency and Khuzestani news website Asr-e Jonoob, according to Journalism is Not a Crime, an exile-run news website focusing on Iranian journalists.
Prior to her arrest, she commented on Twitter on protests following the 16 death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, after morality police arrested her for allegedly violating the country’s conservative dress law.
Exile-run news agency IranWire reported on her arrest, which CPJ confirmed with multiple sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal. None of these sources had further details of the arrest, any information on possible charges facing the journalist, or knowledge of where she is held.
CPJ was also unable to confirm the status of the journalist’s health in custody.
Tafian was previously imprisoned in 2020.
Authorities arrested dozens of journalists as the protests over Amini’s death spread across the country. Several of them were later released on bail.
CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in late 2022 for comment on the cases of imprisoned Iranian journalists but received no response.