Iran has detained a prominent chef and Instagram influencer, known for his videos promoting Persian cooking, in its crackdown on nationwide protests, human rights groups and supporters said on Thursday.
Navab Ebrahimi was arrested in Tehran on Wednesday and taken to the city’s Evin prison, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said.
No reason was given for the arrest of Ebrahimi, who had some 2.7 million followers on Instagram enjoying his slickly produced videos showing how to produce classic Persian dishes without pain.
But social media users said the arrest coincided with him posting a recipe to make Persian cutlets on the day the Iranian authorities marked the third anniversary of the killing by the United States of Revolutionary Guards General Qassem Soleimani.
Ebrahimi’s Instagram account has since been inaccessible.
Some Iranians opposed to the regime have made a habit of posting images of cutlets on the anniversary of his death, in reference to the manner of his killing in a US drone strike in Iraq.
‘Chef and influencer Navab Ebrahimi has been arrested in Tehran. Social media users speculate that his arrest had something to do with his Instagram story’ about cutlets, said the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
Nik Yousefi, an Iranian filmmaker and photographer who was himself arrested in October as part of the crackdown and then released, also wrote on Twitter that Ebrahimi had been arrested and his cafe in Tehran, Noj, shut down.
Qasem Soleimani was the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, an elite clandestine wing of of Iran’s military, and the country’s most powerful general.
He was killed at Baghdad airport three years ago in an air strike ordered by former US president Donald Trump.
