Iranian authorities have arrested a very popular Internet chef after one of his recipes was used to mock a hero of the regime.
Navab Ebrahimi was transferred on Wednesday to the infamous Evin prison in the capital, Tehran, the US-based human rights organisation HRANA reported on Thursday.
The Iranian regime did not immediately confirm the arrest.
Navab Ebrahimi has a popular Instagram account, with 2.7 million followers. He regularly posts videos explaining how to prepare traditional Iranian dishes very simply. The day before his arrest, he had posted a recipe for an Iranian roast online.
On the same day, the Iranian regime also commemorated the death of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani, killed near Baghdad airport by a U.S. drone three years earlier. Members of the Iranian protest movement mocked the many memorial services for the general, including by setting banners with Soleimani’s portrait on fire.
Following Ebrahimi’s post, thousands of posts were also shared online referring to Soleimani as a “roast".
The chef’s Instagram account has since been taken offline.
