Bahá’í photographer arrested in Iran amid web blackout

Paris, January 19, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to instantly launch freelance documentary photographer Navid Zarrehbin Irani, and to halt the systematic harassment and intimidation of journalists in Iran.

Irani was arrested on January 16, 2026, at his residence in Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan Razavi province in northeastern Iran, in accordance with two sources acquainted with the case. Security forces reportedly raided his residence and confiscated all of his private {and professional} gear, the sources informed CPJ.

Irani’s household has acquired no details about his whereabouts or place of detention since his arrest, Niloofar Azimian, Irani’s sister-in-law who lives within the Netherlands, informed CPJ.

Iran’s ongoing nationwide web blackout, imposed on January 8, has additional remoted detainees and restricted households from acquiring dependable data, intensifying the opacity surrounding Irani’s arrest. 

Irani has been a documentary photographer for greater than 20 years and his work has been printed in books and by numerous media retailers. “Because of his Bahá’í faith, he has long been barred from publicly exhibiting his work in Iran,” Azimian informed CPJ. “We guess he had been documenting recent protests and previously authorities had attempted to seize his studio,” she stated. After his arrest, his household deactivated his social media to keep away from additional surveillance.

“Iran’s arrest of Navid Irani is part of a broader effort to silence independent reporting and suppress freedom of expression, said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Authorities must immediately disclose his whereabouts, ensure his safety, and release him unconditionally.”

Human rights teams warn that Bahá’ís in Iran face systematic discrimination, together with exclusion from sure professions and academic alternatives, putting them at heightened risk of persecution.

In a associated incident, on January 19, Iran’s Press Supervisory Board suspended Tehran-based Ham-Mihan newspaper after it reported on protests and hospital raids which occurred throughout the extended web shutdown and knowledge blackout. Hackers briefly disrupted Iranian state tv’s satellite tv for pc transmissions to air footage of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on a number of state-owned channels, AP reported.

CPJ emailed the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York for remark, however didn’t obtain a response.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This alert has been clarified to mirror that Irani’s household is not sure precisely why he was arrested.