An Iranian photojournalist who was due to follow his ‘dream’ of working at a World Cup is reported to have been arrested and imprisoned in his home nation.      

Arya Jafari may have been detained in order to stop pictures of protests which followed a young woman’s death in custody from being shared and released internationally.   

News of his arrest amid a draconian crackdown on dissent by the country’s hardline clerical rulers was originally shared on Instagram by his friend and colleague, Amir Hosseini.    

The reason for the 34-year-old’s arrest is unclear but he was previously detained after protests in 2014 which were triggered by a spate of acid attacks against women.

The former Iranian national kayaker had retweeted a picture of a protest on the streets of Iran in his last post on the platform.

Saman Javadi, who runs social media channels dedicated to the Iranian football team, told Metro.co.uk that Mr Jafari was a professional photographer who had previously competed in slalom.     

Mr Javadi, who lives in Italy, said: ‘He was supposed to work for the first time at a FIFA World Cup, as his friend and colleague Amir Hosseini has said on Instagram. He was arrested a few days after the death of Mahsa Amini, following the protests in the streets.

‘Personally, I don’t know the reason of his arrest, but he was previously arrested in 2014 during other protests in Iran.

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