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Afghan Reporter With Iran’s Fars News Agency Arrested On Spying Charges


Abdolvahed Hakimi, Kabul bureau chief for the Iranian Fars news agency
Abdolvahed Hakimi, Kabul bureau chief for the Iranian Fars news agency
KABUL -- An Afghan reporter with Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency has been arrested in Afghanistan on spying charges.

An unnamed senior Afghan security official told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that the reporter has been arrested for "disclosing government secrets to Iran" without providing more details.

Fars -- said to be affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards Force -- has confirmed that its Kabul bureau chief and reporter Abdolvahed Hakimi was arrested on May 5 by Afghan security agents and taken to an unknown location.

The agency quotes Hakimi's wife as saying that her husband had made a brief telephone call on the night of May 5 to inform his family of his arrest by the Afghan National Security Office.

Fars said the arrest could be down to a "misunderstanding" on the part of Afghan security bodies.

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