Arab protest detainee dies under torture in custody in Shiraz

Hengaw – Thursday, April 16, 2026

Abbas Yavari, an Arab resident of Shiraz, has died in custody after being arrested during the January 2026 protests, according to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

Prison authorities informed Yavari’s family of his death on March 28, 2026.

Yavari, originally from Ahvaz, died three days after being transferred from the general ward of Adelabad Prison in Shiraz on March 26 to an undisclosed location.

Sources told Hengaw that he had been subjected to severe physical and psychological torture since his arrest in an effort to force him to confess to the killing of a Basij member during protests in Shiraz. He died as a result of the torture.

However, Iranian judicial and security authorities have told his family that he died by suicide while in detention.

Yavari was arrested during the January 2026 protests in Shiraz and transferred to Adelabad Prison in late February.

Iranian authorities have a documented pattern of attributing deaths resulting from torture in custody to suicide in cases involving political detainees. Hengaw condemns the death and emphasizes that Iranian prison authorities and the judiciary bear direct responsibility for the safety and lives of detainees.