TEHRAN – Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the arrest of Ruhollah Zam, the operator behind Amad News website and Telegram channel, has astounded foreign intelligence services.

In a statement, Major General Hossein Salami said the IRGC Intelligence Organization’s initiative foiled the enemy’s psychological war against Iran, Mehr reported on Sunday.

He said Amad News was operating with the aim of launching street riots, fomenting discord between the elite and authorities, publishing disinformation and rumors, and propagating pessimism and hopelessness among people.

He also thanked Iranian scholars, authorities, commanders and people for their congratulatory messages after Zam’s arrest and thanked God for the achievement.

Last week, the IRGC announced that Zam had been arrested during a complicated intelligence operation.

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.

In its statement, the IRGC said it lured Zam into Iran using “clever, multidimensional and innovative tricks”, which even deceived foreign intelligence agencies.

The IRGC also said the French intelligence service was behind Zam’s activities, which were also backed by the U.S. and the Zionist regime’s spy services.

The Guards posted the news of his arrest on Zam’s Telegram channel with a following of over a million users, effectively taking over the administration of the popular channel.

It also posted a photo of Zam in custody, under which it was written: “This is just the beginning”.

Back in December 2017, Telegram blocked the channel of Amad News for encouraging people to violence after a request by Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.

However, Zam resumed his activities by launching a new channel called Seday-e Mardom, which is translated as “voice of the people”.

MH/PA