An Iranian Baloch student was found dead after being arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran on Tuesday, local news sites and human rights groups reported on Thursday.
The student, identified as 19-year-old Sepehr Shirani, was arrested on Tuesday due to his posting content on social media in support of anti-government protests, according to Haalvsh, a human rights monitor in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province. BBC Persian contacted the family and confirmed as well that Shirani had been arrested by the IRGC.
اطلاعات جدید از جان باختن دانشجوی ۱۹ ساله بلوچ بازداشت شده توسط اطلاعات سپاه در زاهدانبه گزارش حال وش/ یک نوجوان ۱۹ ساله دانشجوی بلوچ که روز سه شنبه ۱۰ بهمن ۱۴۰۲، بدلیل فعالیت در فضای مجازی توسط نیروهای اطلاعات سپاه در زاهدان بازداشت شده بود جان خود را از دست داد.هویت این… pic.twitter.com/k0lW7qLFav
— حال وش (@haalvsh) February 1, 2024
According to Haalvsh, Shirani's family said that they were told that he was just going to be questioned and released, but on Thursday morning he was found dead and shot in the head on the roof of his home. The family said that they were unaware of when and how he was released by the IRGC and how he ended up on the roof. His body is being held by regime authorities and the family is working to get his body released, according to the reports.
The report cited a "well-informed source" who said that Shirani had been warned by Iranian authorities against his support for protests which have taken place often after Friday prayers in Zahedan since 2022.
Zahedan was the site of some of the most intense demonstrations against the Iranian regime during the protests that swept Iran after Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, was beaten and killed by "morality police" in Tehran in the fall of 2022.
In September 2022, about 100 men, women, and children were murdered by Iranian forces while protesting in Zahedan, in a massacre referred to as "Bloody Friday." Since then, protests have taken place often after Friday Prayers and Iranian security forces frequently maintain a heavy presence in the areas around central mosques in the city.
Mehdi Shamsabadi, the prosecutor in Zahedan, denied the reports on Thursday, saying that Shirani was never arrested and that, based on preliminary information, Shirani committed suicide.
Iranian regime intensifies crackdown on dissidents, activists
Shirani's death comes shortly after a series of executions carried out by regime authorities against Kurdish Iranians in recent weeks, as well as amid reports of crackdowns on activists and students across Iran.
On Monday, four Kurds accused of planning an attack with the Israeli Mossad were executed by the regime, with the Hengaw human rights group stating that "even by the standards of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the minimum requirements for a fair trial were not met in their case."
Less than a week before those executions, Mohammad Qobadlou, who was arrested after taking part in the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that swept Iran after the killing of Mahsa Amini in 2022, was executed by the regime.