TEHRAN – Brigadier General Ramazan Sharif, the spokesman for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said on Wednesday that most members of Ruhollah Zam’s network have already been identified.

The IRGC announced on October 14 that it had arrested Ruhollah Zam, the head of an anti-Iran website and Telegram channel, during a complicated intelligence operation, which involved luring him back to Iran.

“Soon the details of issues related to the head of Amad News will be made public,” Sharif said, Mehr reported.

“Given the process of intelligence monitoring and controlling of this mercenary element for a long time, most members of Zam’s network have been identified and there is relatively certain access to domestic elements helping this anti-Revolution network and foreign agencies supporting it, and there is not much need for the conventional confessions by the aforementioned,” he explained.

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 system.

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.

On Tuesday, the spokesman for Iran’s Judiciary dismissed rumors about arrest of insiders linked to Zam.

“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.

MH/PA