Ahvaz – October 14, 2025 (23 Mehr 1404)
Only one day after his arrest, Hassan Saedi, a 34-year-old cultural activist from the Malashieh district of Ahvaz, died under torture at the detention center of the Ministry of Intelligence in Ahvaz. Officials claimed the cause of death was “cardiac arrest,” but the family and people close to him confirmed that he was in perfect physical and mental health prior to his arrest and had no medical conditions whatsoever.
Violent arrest and death in custody
In the early hours of Tuesday, October 13, security forces raided Saedi’s home in the Malashieh area of Ahvaz and severely beat him during arrest. Officers confiscated the family’s mobile phones to prevent news from spreading. Twenty-four hours later, the family was summoned to the Intelligence Office—known locally as “News Unit 113”—and told to collect his body.
Despite several days passing since his death, the authorities have refused to release the body to the family and have threatened them with prosecution if they speak to media outlets or human rights organizations about the case.
Background and cultural activities
Saedi was married and the father of two young daughters. He was a well-known cultural activist in Malashieh, promoting Arabic language and culture and organizing social initiatives among youth in Khuzestan. He had previously been detained several times by security agencies because of his peaceful cultural and civic work.
His family has long faced systematic persecution. His brother, Ali Saedi, a political activist, spent 13 years in Sheiban and Karun prisons and was forced into exile after his release.
Human rights violations and legal implications
The death of Hassan Saedi in the custody of the Ministry of Intelligence constitutes a clear case of torture to death, violating several fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Article 3: The right to life, liberty, and personal security.
- Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
- Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile.
Arbitrary arrest without a warrant, torture during interrogation, and concealment of the cause of death reflect the regime’s ongoing pattern of systematic human rights violations inside its detention facilities.
Escalating repression in Khuzestan
This killing comes amid intensified repression across Khuzestan following the recent twelve-day war between Iran and Israel. Local sources report the arrest of dozens of young people in Ahvaz, Hamidiyeh, Shush, and Abadan, many of whom are held incommunicado in Intelligence detention centers without access to legal counsel or contact with their families.
Call for international investigation
Human rights organizations and civil activists have urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, and other relevant UN bodies to launch an immediate and independent investigation into the death of Hassan Saedi. They also called for an international fact-finding mission to visit Iranian prisons and speak with detainees, particularly political prisoners.
According to these organizations, continued impunity for perpetrators of torture and deaths in custody only perpetuates the regime’s cycle of violence and leaves the blood of victims unanswered.
