Release Athanasiadis

A journalist who wrote for last week’s Spectator has been detained by the Iranian regime. He should be freed immediately. 

Last week’s Spectator carried a fine atmospheric despatch from Tehran by the Greek journalist Iason Athanasiadis, who has also been covering the disputed presidential election for the Washington Times. At some point in the past week — the chronology is still hazy — Iason was arrested by the Iranian authorities and, as we go to press, remains in custody.

The Iranian authorities have apparently objected that he exceeded the duration of his visa. Whether this allegation is correct, it is clearly a pretext for detaining a journalist who was reporting an inconvenient truth to the world, and doing so on the ground, as an eye witness. The Ahmadinejad regime fears nothing more than well-sourced, factual accounts of its actions and its growing unpopularity. It has seen what Iranians themselves can do, armed with modern tools of mobile technology, and is correspondingly determined to intimidate foreign nationals who dare to report what they see.

On this occasion, we earnestly hope that this article has been overtaken by events and that Iason has been released by the time you read this. If he has not, we urge the Iranian authorities to set him free without delay. You cannot lock up the truth.