Formerly Jailed Journalist Explains Iran's Recent Crackdown On Dissent

THE WORLD POST

BY CHARLOTTE ALFRED

Every week, The WorldPost asks an expert to shed light on a topic driving headlines around the world. Today, we speak with Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, who spent 118 days in Iranian prison in 2009.

When world powers signed a deal to curb the country's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief in July, some supporters were hopeful that the agreement would bolster reformists in Iran.

Yet as Iran begins to implement the deal, there are signs of a backlash from hard-liners in the regime. A wave of arrests of journalists, poets and cartoonists in Iran this month suggests a crackdown on dissenting voices. In addition, the government convicted Iranian-American Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian of espionage in a secret trial last month, and has since detained two other Americans -- U.S. citizen Siamak Namazi and U.S. resident Nizar Zakka.

Link to the article