Hossein Zadeh Shayeh is a cultural activist from Bandar-e Mahshahr, Khuzestan province. He is also a cameraman and works in documentary film production.

On December 20, 2020, Hossein Zadeh Shayeh was arrested by security forces from the local division of the Ministry of Intelligence in Mahshahr.

A source familiar with his arrest spoke to Journalism Is Not A Crime, saying: “At 4 o'clock in the morning, on December 20, a number of vehicles belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence arrived at Hossein Zadeh's house. They violently arrested him and intimidated and terrorized the family. They then transferred him to the local Ministry of Intelligence Detention Center in Ahvaz.”

During a search of Shayeh's home, the security agents seized and confiscated all of his cameras and filmmaking equipment, his mobile phone and his personal computer.

According to published news, Shayeh suffers from asthma and kidney stones.

No information has yet been released about the charges against Shayeh or where he is being detained.

Prior to Shayeh’s arrest, in early December 2020 Fatemeh Tamimi, a documentary filmmaker, Arab cultural activist, researcher of Arab ethnic minorities in Iran and a colleague of Hossein Zadeh Shayeh, was arrested by intelligence agents at her home in the city of Jarahi.