DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A political activist known for his criticisms of the Iranian government has been apprehended, as revealed by his wife on social media over the weekend.
Fereshteh Mazinani, the spouse of Mehdi Nasiri, shared the news via a Telegram channel dedicated to Nasiri, stating that he was taken into custody shortly after they visited the tomb of Ferdowsi, a prominent Persian poet who passed away in 1020 A.D., located in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.
According to Mazinani, Nasiri had recorded a video paying tribute to Ferdowsi and emphasizing his significant contributions to the Persian language. During the filming, he also noted that the tomb complex was established in 1934 under Reza Shah Pahlavi, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, and was later enhanced in 1964 by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran who was eventually overthrown in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution.
During the couple’s visit, security personnel at the complex checked Nasiri’s mobile device and the recorded video right before his arrest, according to his wife’s statements. He was subsequently taken into custody by intelligence authorities.
Mehdi Nasiri is not new to political discourse; he previously served as a representative for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Kayhan Daily, a hardline newspaper, where he held the position of editor-in-chief for three years during the early 1990s.
In recent times, he has been a vocal critic of the Iranian regime, targeting Khamenei’s policies, Iran’s involvement in regional conflicts, and the substantial financial support extended to proxy forces in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen.
In 2022, following widespread protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Jina Amini—a woman detained by morality police for allegedly violating the strict dress code—Nasiri attended memorials for individuals who lost their lives during these protests and recorded videos condemning the government’s response to the unrest.
The circumstances surrounding his recent arrest remain unclear, and there has been no coverage or reporting on the matter by Iranian state media as of now.