American journalist Max Blumenthal says he was detained and questioned by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Washington Dulles International Airport upon returning from Iran, with agents searching his belongings and confiscating his smartphones after he refused to provide access to them.
Blumenthal described the questioning and seizure of his devices as a politically motivated response to his reporting from Iran, saying, “As punishment for my factual journalism, I was subjected to political harassment by the Trump administration upon my return from Iran.”
According to Blumenthal, CBP officers searched his luggage and demanded access to his mobile phones. After he declined to unlock the devices, the agents seized them.
He said the confiscation was intended to discourage his reporting on Iran, and that the officers repeatedly questioned him about his future travel plans.
“The seizure of my devices was a clear act of intimidation aimed at deterring me and others from doing further critical reporting from Iran, which is likely why my interrogators from CBP demanded to know if I would be returning to Tehran to report any time soon.”
Blumenthal said the scrutiny followed his recent reporting from Iran, which included coverage of public reactions to recent regional developments and reporting on US-Israeli aggression and the assassination of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
He went on to say that the questioning was directly linked to his work, accusing his interrogators of acting on political motives.
The journalist also claimed that those questioning him were part of an “Israeli-influenced criminal cartel” that was “clearly threatened by my reporting from Tehran.”
Max Blumenthal, editor of The Grayzone, was among several foreign journalists who traveled to Iran to attend the farewell and funeral ceremonies of the martyred Leader.
The United States and Israel assassinated Ayatollah Khamenei, alongside some of his family members, on February 28, the first day of the 40-day illegal war of aggression on Iran.
Source: Press tv