“Recently, the agent carried out numerous activities and actions by slandering the Islamic Republic, calling the youth to riot and creating terror among the people,” Fars said of the arrest. Iranian media identified the person arrested as Elham Afkari. Her brother, Saeed Afkari, confirmed her arrest on Thursday, adding that the whereabouts of her three-year-old daughter were unknown. According to the semi-official broadcaster Student News Network, her other brother is Navid Afkari – a 27-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler who was executed in September 2020 after being convicted of stabbing a security guard to death during anti-government protests in 2018. Afkari’s family and activists said Navid was tortured into making a false confession – charges denied by hardline Iranian justice. Iran International did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Tuesday, Iran’s Information Minister Esmail Khatib called the London-based channel a “terrorist” organization and said anyone working for or associated with it would be pursued by the Intelligence Ministry. Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of funding the news agency. In 2018, the channel denied links to any government, including Saudi Arabia.
