Iran: Crackdown Shows Intolerance for Dissent – Passion of the Present

The Iranian security forces’ November 21, 2011 raid on the offices of the official Iran newspaper and their attempt to arrest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s media adviser show the Iranian government’s extreme reaction to dissent. The authorities detained about 40 staff members of the Iran daily while attempting to arrest Ali-Akbar Javanfekr, the head of the official Islamic Republic News Agency, who was conducting a news conference at the newspaper’s offices in Tehran. By evening, 30 of the 40 arrested staff members had been released, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

(New York) – The Iranian security forces’ November 21, 2011 raid on the offices of the official Iran newspaper and their attempt to arrest President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s media adviser show the Iranian government’s extreme reaction to dissent, Human Rights Watch said today.