Iranian activist is back in prison

TEHRAN: Iranian journalist Keyvan Samimi, who was jailed in 2020 for “plotting against national security”, has been returned to prison after resuming his activities during a medical furlough, a report said yesterday.

The 73-year-old had been granted prison leave on medical grounds in late February. He had been serving a three-year sentence in Semnan, nearly 200km east of the capital.

Earlier this week, Mehr News Agency reported the arrest of Tehran academic Saeed Madani Ghahfarokhi on suspicion of “maintaining links abroad and carrying out activities that threaten national security”.

Ghahfarokhi is a sociology professor.