An Afghan press freedom organization has called for the release of an Iranian photojournalist detained by the Taliban, which has arrested around a dozen reporters over the past two weeks.
The semioffical Tasnim news agency in Iran reported on August 22 that Taliban security agents had apprehended its photojournalist, Mohammad Hossein Velayati, in Kabul three days earlier.
Velayati was reportedly detained at Kabul airport while trying to fly home after a 10-day reporting trip to the Afghan capital.
“We call for his immediate and unconditional release,” the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) said on August 22.
“[We want] an end to the harassment and targeting of journalists in Afghanistan,” it added.
Valayati’s arrest follows a recent deterioration in relations between Tehran’s clerical regime and the Taliban militants who have ruled Afghanistan since seizing power in August 2021.
Forces from the two sides clashed along their 900-kilometer-long shared border in May after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned the Taliban against depriving his country of its share of water from the Helmand River.
In an interview on August 22, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the Iranian president's special envoy for Afghanistan, said his country’s diplomats in Kabul were talking to the Taliban about Velayati’s release.
The Taliban has not commented on the arrest.
Tasnim reported that Velayati went to Afghanistan legally and criticized the arrest of its staff member without explanation.
“Given the negative perceptions that Iranians have of the Taliban's treatment of Iranian journalists, it is expected that the group will act quickly to secure the release of the Iranian photojournalist,” Tasnim said in a report.
The AFJC, however, said Velayati's whereabouts are still unknown, days after his arrest.
“This lack of information constitutes a violation of his visitation rights,” the statement said. “We urge the Taliban authorities to provide an immediate update to his family and colleagues and ensure the well-being of Velayati."
The arrest follows the detention of 11 Afghan journalists in seven Afghan provinces by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) this month. Global and Afghan media watchdogs have condemned the detentions and have called for their swift release.
“It is essential that [the Taliban] put an end to these arbitrary arrests and uphold the principles of press freedom and freedom of expression,” the AFJC said.
Since returning to power two years ago, the Taliban has shut down independent radio stations, television studios, and newspapers.
International media and journalists, too, face severe restrictions and bans. The Taliban has banned international broadcasters and has expelled or banned several foreign correspondents from entering the country.
The ultraconservative Islamist group has also driven hundreds of Afghan journalists into exile.