PARIS - A journalist from the southwestern Iranian city of Khuzestan, the scene of recent unrest, has been arrested over his comments on the violence, the press rights group Reporters without Borders said Wednesday.
The Paris-based group said Yosef Azizi Banitrouf, an ethnic Arab, was arrested in a raid on his home on Monday.
"We strongly deplore the arrest of Banitrouf, who was simply expressing his personal opinion in articles and in interviews given to other newspapers," said Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders - RSF).
"As soon as a journalist speaks out in Iran, the authorities crack down, either by closing the paper concerned or throwing the journalist in prison. There are now 12 journalists and cyber-dissidents in jail in Iran, which remains the Middle East's biggest prison for journalists."
The arrest came after ethnic clashes which broke out on April 15 in the southern province of Khuzestan between security forces and the majority Arab community there.
RSF said Banitrouf was a leading Arab intellectual in Iran and had defended the protesters and condemned the violence.
In the wake of the violence, Iran also ordered the Arabic satellite television Al-Jazeera to "temporarily close" its Tehran bureau while it examined "the possible actions of the Al-Jazeera channel to provoke subversive elements in the troubles that took place".
Officials said Sunday they had launched a fresh hunt for the alleged ringleaders of the unrest, and that 205 people were still being held in connection with the clashes -- which according to official figures left five people dead.
The violence, which lasted from April 15-18, appeared to have been sparked by a forged letter, dating back seven years and attributed to then vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi, calling for modifications to oil-rich Khuzestan's ethnic composition.
Iran's Islamic regime blamed foreigners and counter-revolutionaries for the ethnic tensions, but admitted the province's development was still hampered by the devastation it suffered during the 1980-1988 war with neighbouring Iraq.
04/27/2005 11:24 GMT