Iran: Iranian-American journalist committed suicide in protest against repression by the regime

Iranian-American journalist Kianoosh Sanjari (42), a strong critic of the regime in Iran and human rights activist, committed suicide Wednesday in Tehran, the Iranian capital, in protest against the brutal repression of the Islamic government, headed by Ali Khamenei, Iranian supreme leader.

The event occurred after Sanjari announced on social media that he would take his own life if the Iranian authorities did not release four political prisoners.

"If Fatemeh Sepehri, Nasrin Shakarami, Toomaj Salehi and Arsham Rezaei are not released from prison by 7:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, and the news of their release is not published on the judicial news website, I will take my life in protest against the dictatorship of Khamenei and his associates. Maybe this is a desperate maneuver! Long live Iran!" expressed Sanjari on X.

After the ultimatum expired, Sanjari posted a photo taken by him from a bridge in Tehran, accompanied by a message that read, "It's 7pm, Hafez Bridge."

He then shared his latest post on X. "A pledge means loyalty. No one should be imprisoned for expressing their opinions. Protest is a right of all Iranian citizens. My life will end after this tweet, but let's not forget that I will die for the love of life, not death. I wish that one day Iranians will wake up and overcome slavery. Long live Iran," he wrote.

Iranian sources confirmed the journalist's death hours later.

A journalist persecuted by the regime

Sanjari was repeatedly imprisoned between 1999 and 2007, when he fled to Norway, where he worked with human rights organizations.

He then emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a journalist at Voice of America.

In 2016, Sanjari returned to Iran to be with his ailing mother. He was then sentenced to six years in prison and was released after serving most of his sentence.

Repercussions following Sanjari's death

The media outside Iran and Reza Pahlavi, Iran's leader-in-exile, mourned the death of Sanjari, whom they praised for his work and activism.

Pahlavi, who issued a statement through a video shared on social media, warned that other lives could be lost because of the regime.

Some internet users claimed that Sanjari had not committed suicide and accused the regime of assassinating him or pressuring him to commit suicide.

Who are the political prisoners that Sanjari demanded to be released?

Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post indicated that the political prisoners Sanjari demanded to free were Fatemeh Sepehri, a women's rights activist who was sentenced to prison last June for "supporting Israel" after condemning the Oct. 7 massacre; Nasrin Shakarami, mother Nika Shakarami, a protester killed during a anti-government protest in 2022, who was arrested in October this year; Toomaj Salehi, a rapper who was sentenced to prison in July 2023 for participating in the 2022 demonstrations; and Arsham Rezaei, an activist who was previously arrested for making "propaganda against the regime" and "insulting the leadership."