10 Facts About Isa Saharkhiz

Isa Saharkhiz, is an Iranian journalist, political figure, and former head of the press department at the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Education during former President Khatami's administration.

Isa Saharkhiz is a member of the central council of the Association for the Defense of Press Freedom in Iran.

Isa Saharkhiz was released on October 3,2013 two months before the end of his sentence.

Isa Saharkhiz was born in 1953 in Abadan, in the province of Khuzestan, in southwestern Iran.

Isa Saharkhiz went to secondary school and passed the national entrance examination for admission to Iranian universities in Karaj and then studied economics at the University of Tehran where he graduated in 1979.

The ministry was in charge of IRNA and Isa Saharkhiz had gotten to know Khatami.

When Khatami was elected President in 1997, Isa Saharkhiz returned to Iran and was put in charge of domestic publications under the new minister Ata'ollah Mohajerani.

Isa Saharkhiz refused to go to court but a week later was captured by authorities in northern Iran and imprisoned.

Radio Farda reports that the family of Isa Saharkhiz has written to Iran's judiciary chief to complain that Isa Saharkhiz is being subjected to "inhumane treatment," and that his health is deteriorating.

Isa Saharkhiz suffers from a slipped disc and has developed a tumor that might be cancerous.