Mr. Poorzand had been abducted last year by plainclothes agents and jailed, spending months incognito in one of the prisons controlled by a special security service that directly is attached directly to the office of leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, where he suffered physical and psychological tortures, being accused of spying for the Americans, connections with Iranian dissidents abroad and distributing money among Iranian journalists.

However, he had been released four months ago, avoiding contacts with people except some members of the family, the house being under constant watch and his telephone bugged.

There was no explanation for the re-arrest of Mr. Poorzand, but an Iranian internet website noted that "this arrest, once again, proves that the government of the embattled President Mohammad Khatami is extremely powerless".

Family sources and friends, including one of his daughters, Fereshteh said Mr. Poorzand had in recent weeks been summoned several times by the Office of Public Places that depends to the Law Enforcement Forces in connection with the arrest of five journalists writing for weeklies dealing with film and cinema.

Ms. Fereshted rejected the authorities’ claims as "baseless" and, confirming that during the time he was out of prison, he movements were closely monitored by the regime’s agents, spending most of his time recovering from the physical harms he suffered in prison. POORZAND RE-ARRESTED 31303