In this file photo taken on April 7 2016

[sharminsultana]

She linked this to the growing number of overseas-based web channels that have made an impact in Iran – like Zam’s Amadnews – especially during events such as the 2019 protests.

“Not a normal life”
Zam is far from the only international kidnapping case blamed on Iran in recent times.

In July 2020, German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd disappeared in Dubai on his way to India. His family say he was kidnapped, taken to Iran via Oman and then tried for an explosion in 2008, charges his family strongly rejects.

“We don’t know where he is exactly. We do not know if he is kept in phone number library humane conditions, ”his family said in a statement, adding that they were“ shocked ”when he paraded on Iranian television blindfolded and swollen.


reporter Masih Alinejad speaks on stage at the 7th Annual Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center in New York City. (Jemal Countess / Getty Images North America / AFP)

In July this year, US prosecutors indicted four Iranians in absentia with a plot to kidnap dissident Masih Alinejad of New York on a speedboat and take her to Tehran’s ally, Venezuela.


Alinejad, who has campaigned heavily against the mandatory hijab in Iran, is now part of a bipartisan US Senate effort to introduce legislation that would sanction those who instigate such attempts.