You knew you wanted to be a photojournalist from the moment you picked up a camera.  How do you reconcile your passion for the news with putting your own personal safety at risk, and ultimately, forcing you to live in exile in France?

"Before the 2009 election, I spent most of my time following the two candidates who were reformists.  People were really happy and hopeful that there would be change in the country.  Everyone in Iran had energy and I had this energy too, following the candidates and capturing this energy on camera.  There was a big will from the people to make this change, but it didn't happen - the Government remained in power and people began to protest in the street.

"After the election, the ministry in charge of foreign media correspondents officially banned us from reporting the protests, and my editor advised me to stay at home as it was too dangerous for photographers.  There were 3 photographers who were attacked and stabbed.  They said stay at home, but I couldn't.

"I felt this was a very important moment in my country's history and thought I'd better not lose this moment by staying at home, even if they didn't publish my pictures.  The only thing I could do was to go out so I did not regret it later."

Why were you forced to flee?

"I didn't know I was in such big danger.  We were getting ready to have a new reformist government and an open atmosphere for reporters and photographers so I was getting ready to re-open our office.  But after the election, I didn't know that people would get killed and there was a huge depression in the country.  

"The government wrote an article about SIPA being the enemy and that anyone who worked for SIPA was a spy. I had two other colleagues working for SIPA who were arrested along with many other photographers.

"I got arrested in the street.  Luckily I didn't have my camera on me at the time, if I did, I would be in jail now.  I hid my camera before they could find me.  After I was arrested I never went back to home. I called my neighbour and they said government agents had come to my house and had gone through my things.  I thought, I will hide and spent time at a safe house, but after some time I felt the owner might report me so I left.

"I then heard that one of my colleagues who had been arrested was tortured and appeared on television confessing he was a spy. I said to myself, 'I had better not stay'."

There are many Iranian journalists who have been forced into exile and are living in Iraq or Turkey.  Tell us about your journey to France and what the future holds for you now.

"On 3 August I fled to Iraq.  I had a backpack with a few pieces of clothing, but not my passport or my computer because the Government had taken them.  I got in contact with an alcohol smuggler and he helped me to cross the Iran/Iraq border on foot.  It took 17 hours.

"I thought I would go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) but I was arrested by Iraqi security.  They thought I might be an Iranian spy.  After 7 hours of interrogation they took me to the UNHCR and I was registered as an asylum seeker on 5 August.  For two weeks I slept in the street.

"Through Reporters Sans Frontiers and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was able to enter France on 6 November 2009.

"Right now, I'm living only in the moment.  The future seems too dark.  The job market has changed for photojournalists all over the world.  I was a good photographer and was represented by agency.  Here I am just a number until I get permission to stay.  I cannot work; I cannot do anything.  I just edit my old stories.

"If I went back to Iran they will catch me and lock me up.  Maybe they will release me but I will not be allowed to work.

"I hope the political situation will change so I can go back and use all the skills I have gained over the years."

Why is press freedom important to you?  Why is it important for photojournalists to report what they see?

"I can write a book about this!  People who cannot be in the field need information and it is our role as journalists to provide that information.  So we must be free to express what is happening.  Otherwise people will lack information and not be able to judge what is really happening.  This is not just in Iran; this is everywhere."