Iran security agents who took the body of the dissident Abol Hamid Korkor after his death by suicide – following a standoff in his hideout in the southwestern city of Izeh — have refused to return his body to family members, according to the former political prisoner Foad Choobin.
Choobin, who broke the news about the siege and subsequent updates about Korkor and three other dissidents in the hideout – Reza Abdollahzadeh, Sohrab Ahmadi, and Hossein Mehri – said several of Korkor’s family members were threatened with arrest if they continued to demand the release of his body. He shared the information in a March 12 Instagram post.
The four men were engaged in a standoff with security officials who stormed the residence in Izeh. The violent incident was broadcast live on Instagram, and included audio of ongoing gunfire from the authorities, despite one of the dissidents shouting “We surrender,” which led to Korkor saying “I have no other choice, goodbye, Iran,” and shooting himself.
Korkor had been in hiding for more than two years, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. His death was confirmed by the police commander of Izeh, who also confirmed that Abdollahzadeh, Mehri and Ahmadi were wounded during the operation.
Additional concerns about Ahmadi’s welfare were raised in a March 11 Instagram post by Choobin.
“The family of Sohrab Ahmadi was informed by the Iranian authorities that they should report to the Izeh governorate. With this summons, the possibility of his death by gunshot or torture has become more likely,” Choobin said in the post. “All three families are under intense pressure from security agencies to remain silent about their loved ones.”
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), published video footage of Abdollahzadeh and Mehri in hospital beds on March 9.
“In the video, Hossein Mehri’s hand is broken and in a cast. Reza Abdollahzadeh is also seen wearing a blue operating room gown,” Choobin said. “Both of them were unable to speak due to the bullet wounds and having undergone excruciating torture.”
The footage released by Fars did not include Ahmadi.
Ahmadi was a relative of Kamar Tahmasebi, an anti-government protester who was shot and killed by government forces in August 2023.
Choobin was the uncle of 17-year-old Artin Rahmani Piyani, one of the more than 60 children killed by Iran’s security forces during the nationwide protests in 2022. Choobin has been repeatedly harassed, tortured and imprisoned by the regime for speaking out about his nephew’s death.
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Other social media accounts of individuals inside Iran who posted the video footage alleged that the men were being forced into confessions. One account on social media platform X, @Rppress0, said the footage was IRGC propaganda: “circulated by extracting forced confessions from heroes and fighters for freedom.”
Iran’s regime has been criticized by human rights groups in recent years for the physical and psychological torture of political prisoners to extract confessions, and often televising those confessions.
The four activists had been engaged in organizing anti-regime protests in Izeh, according to a March 11 report published in the Long War Journal, an online blog produced by Washington-based neoconservative think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The city of Izeh, located in Khuzestan Province, is one of Iran’s poorest areas, and was a focal point of the anti-government protests in 2022, which took place following the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, while in police custody.
The brutal crackdown on protestors during this period included the residents of Izeh, where Artin Rahmani and nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak were killed by Islamic Republic forces. Protestors took to the streets and chanted slogans such as “Death to Khamenei,” and “Reza Shah, may your soul rest in peace.” The crackdown included an almost complete internet blackout across the country, resulting in a record number (18) of internet shutdowns for 2022 in any one country.
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Severe internet disruptions were reported across Izeh during the standoff with the activists, according to a March 8 post by Hengaw.
Izeh has continued to be a hotspot for anti-government protests in Iran. The city’s province suffers with extreme water shortages, environmental degradation, poor living conditions and the ongoing repression of its minority groups.
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