TEHRAN – The spokesman for Iran’s Judiciary on Tuesday dismissed rumors about arrest of insiders linked to Ruhollah Zam, the head of an anti-Iranian website and Telegram channel who was arrested by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) earlier this month.

“Until today, apart from Ruhollah Zam, no one in the administration, Judiciary, armed forces or elsewhere has been arrested,” Gholam Hossein Esmaeili told a press conference, Tasnim reported.

“Do not speculate,” Esmaeili said. “My advice is not to point the finger at each other.”

He also lauded the IRGC for the “precision” operation to arrest Zam, saying “invaluable” information has been obtained after his arrest.

“Of course, we obtained invaluable information on this issue, but no new arrests have been made since Ruhollah Zam’s arrest,” he reiterated. 

The IRGC announced last week that it had arrested Zam during a complicated intelligence operation, which involved luring him back to Iran.

Zam launched Amad News in 2015. The channel frequently posted fake news stories and called for violence with the aim of overthrowing the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During the protest rallies in December 2018, he urged the people to take arms against the government.

Amadnews was suspended by the messaging app Telegram last year after Iran accused it of carrying calls for violence during protests that started in late 2017 and continued across the country. But the channel soon reappeared under a new name.

In its statement, the IRGC said Zam was supported by intelligence agencies of certain countries, including France, the U.S. and Israel.

A day after the announcement, Mohammad Tavallaei, a high-ranking IRGC general, said Zam was arrested through cooperation with other intelligence services.

“Intelligence forces had been keeping a careful watch over Ruhollah Zam’s movements for a long time and he stepped into intelligence trap of the Guards some two years ago,” he said.

“He was under the strong support of other intelligence services but we trapped and arrested him through a meticulous intelligence operation,” the general added.

MH/PA