Watchdog

The U.S. State Department is investigating the fate of an Iranian-American man who was reportedly executed in Iran for murder last month.

The department learned of the arrest and sentencing of Hamid Samiee in late October and asked Iranian authorities through the Swiss embassy in Tehran to stay the execution, department spokesman Mark Toner said December 1.

The department has not been able to confirm the execution took place and is still looking for information about the case, which was reported by Iran Human Rights on December 1, he said.

The nonprofit group, which is based in Norway, said in a report that Samiee was arrested in Iran in 2008 and executed by hanging last month for allegedly killing an Iranian man in the state of California.

He was sentenced to death by Branch 71 of Tehran’s Criminal Court and he was put to death along with another prisoner at Karaj’s Rajai Shahr Prison on November 4, the group said.

Samiee was arrested after the family of the murder victim, Behrouz Janmohammadi, reported him to Iranian authorities, the group said.

“Hamid and Behrouz were friends in California until they were involved in an altercation that resulted in Behrouz drawing a knife on Hamid; and Hamid exercised self defense, which resulted in Behrouz’s death,” the group said, citing “an individual close to Samiee who asked to be anonymous.”

After his arrest in Iran, “Hamid endured extreme torture and was forced to confess against himself,” the group said, adding that Iranian officials refused to believe that Samiee had acted in self-defense.

Samiee’s family reportedly visited the Swiss Embassy in Tehran to meet with two individuals responsible for protecting the interests of the United States in Iran.

One of these representatives, who the report referred to as Mr. Meyer, told the relatives that he would personally look into Samiee’s case and coordinate his efforts with the U.S. Department of State.

With reporting by AP and Washington Free Beacon

A well-known Iranian poet and songwriter has been arrested in Tehran for reasons that remain unclear.

Forty-year-old Yaghma Golruyi was detained at his home in the Iranian capital on November 30, his wife, Athena Habibi, said via social media.

Habibi said security agents took her husband to an "unknown location."

"So far we don't have any news about him and we're deeply worried about his health," Habibi wrote on her Instagram account on December 1.

Iranian authorities frequently jail suspects or try defendants without public explanation.

Habibi urged friends and fans to spread the news while warning against "any comment" that could complicate his situation.

Several artists, journalists, and activists have been arrested in Iran in recent months in a crackdown seemingly led by hard-liners who oppose any opening of the country's political atmosphere.

Golruyi's work is known inside and outside the country.

His songs and poems have been performed by exiled Iranian pop and rap singers.

His arrest comes on the heels of a warning by Iran's Culture Ministry to artists who work with Persian-language television channels that broadcast to the country from abroad.

"They will be warned and there will be legal action if they insist on the cooperation," ministry spokesman Hossein Nushabadi was quoted as saying by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.

Golruyi released a music video in March titled Liberation, which highlighted Iranian women who have made strides in various areas despite state-imposed restrictions and legal discrimination.

"We're happy, joyful, and smiling even though we're in a prison," Golruyi sings in the clip to images of Iranian female athletes, rights advocates, scientists, artists, and others, adding in the refrain, "We know we're free at the end of the story."

In October, two poets and a filmmaker were sentenced to a total of 26 1/2 years in prison and 421 lashes on charges that included "insulting sanctities" and shaking hands with unrelated members of the opposite sex.

Last month, five journalists were arrested in Iran by the intelligence branch of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which claimed to be fighting "infiltration" efforts by the United States following the landmark nuclear agreement reached in July.

Also in November, Iran's judiciary announced that jailed Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was sentenced to an unspecified prison term.

Meanwhile, prominent cartoonist Hadi Heidari was jailed to complete a suspended prison sentence. Heidari was also jailed for several weeks during the crackdown that followed the disputed reelection in 2009 of then-President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

The measures appear to be a push against the nuclear deal, which hard-liners fear will diminish their grip on power, and a preemptive blow ahead of February 2016 elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts in which reformists are hoping to make a political comeback.