The manager and political editor of the Iranian news site iranews.org have been arrested.
A member of the website staff who did not want to be named told RFE/RL that the two, Meysam Zamanabadi and Mohammad Zomorodian, were detained late on December 28 in connection with the release of video footage that shows Iranian Vice President Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaee taking part in a ceremony in Turkey where unveiled women were dancing.
Under Iran's Islamic laws men are not allowed to watch women dance and sing.
The member of iranews.org staff said the video footage of Mashaee, who is the head of Iran's Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organization, had been posted on the website.
"Last night [they were arrested] because of the footage that showed Mr. Mashee in a tourism ceremony with Turkish leaders and there was dancing a singing by a lady, the iranews.org staffer said. "And because of that last night, Mr. Mashaee had arranged a meeting with Mr. Zamanabadi. But Mr. Mashaee did not come and some unknown people arrested [Zamanabadi]."
The charges against the two men are not clear. There has been no reaction from Iranian officials.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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