Former BBC journalist arrested in Iran

A former BBC journalist and dual British-Iranian national has been arrested in Iran, according to the BBC’s Persian service website. Bahman Daroshafaei was arrested in the Iranian capital Tehran Wednesday, after reportedly being interrogated 40 times over the past few months according to IranWire. No motive has been given, and it is unclear why Daroshafaei was detained, but the arrest comes just weeks before parliamentary elections take place in Iran, prompting speculation of major press suppression as Iranians go to the polls. This also comes one day before foreign minister Javad Zarif is due in London to attend a high profile conference on Syria. Daroshafaei returned to Iran two years ago and had been working as a translator of children’s books in addition to working for an NGO focusing on human rights. Iran is among the top-10 jailers of journalists in the world and just last month freed Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian as part of a prisoner swap in the aftermath of the P5+1 nuclear deal. Rezaian spent 544 days in prison in Iran, including 49 days in solitary confinement. In October 2015, Iran state media claimed Rezaian had “confessed” to working directly with the U.S. and to running a spy ring