Dr Sohrab Razzaghi the director of Koneshgaran’e Davtalab institute whose offices were ‎sealed by security agents last month was arrested in Tehran on Tuesday. This is the ‎second arrest of civil activists this week, following Emaddedin Baghi who founded and ‎ran the Organization for the Rights of Prisoners. ‎

Razzaghi had been summoned by security agents several times in the times to respond to ‎questions about his and his institute’s activities. Along with Koneshgaran, two other ‎NGO centers Rahi, ran by Shadi Sadr and the Center for NGO Performance ran by ‎Mahbubeh Abbasgholizadeh were also shut and sealed by the government.‎

Razzaghi was a professor of political science at Tehran’s Alame Tabatabaie University ‎who before Ahmadinejad became President of Iran in 2005. He was dismissed along with ‎others in the purges that were implemented soon after Ahmadinejad took office. During ‎former President Khatami’s administration, Razzaghi was the secretary of the Political ‎Committee of the government. Prior to that, he was the director of the Political Office of ‎the Ministry of the Interior who worked to strengthen NGOs and spread models for ‎public participation.‎

After leaving the government, Razzaghi worked in the public sector doing research on ‎civil society issues. Koneshgaran’e Davtalab (volunteer researchers) was the coordinator ‎for West Asia at an international conference on Information Society held in Geneva ‎through which it organized regional workshops and meetings in Tehran and Kish Island ‎in the Persian Gulf on issues related to information technology.‎

During recent months, Iran’s security agencies have been increasing their pressure on ‎NGOs especially those that receive some funding from outside the country. Even though ‎a number of NGOs have been shut by the security apparatus over the past few months, ‎the government has not provided the public with any explanation for these actions.‎