HRANA – Meysam Rashidi, a journalist based in Ardabil, was arrested by local police following a complaint from the city’s mayor and the issuance of a temporary detention order.

According to HRANA, the arrest was carried out after Rashidi published critical content on social media about the municipality’s performance, prompting the mayor to file a legal complaint. The charges against him and his current place of detention remain unknown.

Earlier this year in March, Rashidi was reportedly assaulted by Ardabil municipality’s security personnel after he criticized the poor condition of the city’s municipal football team—an allegation the mayor later denied.

Rashidi has previously collaborated with the news outlet Qaartaal.

Arbitrary arrests, transferring detainees to undisclosed locations, and leaving families in the dark about the fate of their loved ones are routine practices of the Iranian regime’s security agencies, such as the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Unit. This pattern of behavior stands in clear violation of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules