Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, October 26, 2020—Amid increased repressive measures by the Iranian regime, the State Security Force (SSF) tortured and killed a 28-year-old man named Mehrdad Sepehri in the city of Mashhad with tasers and pepper spray.
The footage released on social media showed that on October 18, the criminal SSF punched and tortured Mehrdad with electric shockers and pepper spray while his hands were cuffed to a bar.
Mehrdad lost consciousness under the beating and died later in the custody of the security forces. In the video, traces of beatings and torture are clearly seen on his body.
The horrendous crime triggered public outrage at the regime’s repressive measures. Subsequently, the regime’s judiciary claimed to be investigating the incident.
Two young men tortured and killed Thursday October 22 and Sunday October 25 in Esfarayen and Masjed Soleiman.
This is part of a growing trend of increased violence by security forces aimed at intimidating the public. On Thursday, October 22, SSF agents shot and injured a young man in Esfarayen. After catching him, the agents beat him to death.
In another case in Davazdah Emam village, Masjed Soleiman, on Sunday, October 25, Basij forces killed a young man as they tried to steal his livestock.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that the scenes of torture and brutal murder of this young man in public have left a scar on the conscience and feelings of the Iranian people. This has been the routine and daily behavior of the IRGC, paramilitary Basijis, security, and intelligence forces against the people of Iran and the children of this country for the past 40 years, some of which are only now being revealed. The recent unhinged acts of cruelty, from Mahshahr and Abadan to Mashhad and Tehran, show that the clerical regime has been able to continue its rule only through repression, torture, and execution. These crimes have been ongoing in our occupied homeland. But enough is enough. The people and youth of this homeland can no longer tolerate it. The international community must condemn the torture and murder of defenseless young man Mehrdad Sepehri. The SSF must be sanctioned and blacklisted. Dealing with and appeasing a regime that is a disgrace to contemporary humanity is an affront to human rights and universal democratic principles.
The cruel murder of a young man in Mashhad by the State Security Force has enraged the #Iran ian people’s conscience. It bespeaks of the atrocity of a regime which relies on execution and torture to prolong its rule. These crimes are constantly repeated in our occupied homeland.
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) October 25, 2020
Intensified repressive
These criminal acts by the Iranian regime’s security forces aim to establish a climate of fear and silence in society. At the same time, fearing a backlash over repressive measures, the regime Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Rasi recently announced judicial reforms that were supposedly meant to ease some of the repressive measures the regime imposes on the public.
As has been proven time and again in the past four decades, it is impossible for the regime to abandon torture and execution. Oppression, persecution, and crackdown are vital to the mullahs’ stay in power.
As these cases and other facts on the ground show, the regime’s repressive measures have only intensified in the past weeks.