Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, sentenced to death by Iran’s authorities for trying to help wounded protesters in October 2022
Originally written for The Guardian:
German-French Cyclist Monterlos Detained in Iran Since June
In late October 2022, as protests over 22-year-old Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody swept across Iran, Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, a father of three, was racing through alleyways in the city of Bukan in western Iran. He was carrying medical supplies to secret clinics where doctors treated injured demonstrators in defiance of the state.
Many of the wounded were too afraid to seek hospital care after reports of secret police patrolling wards, interrogating patients and detaining injured protesters. By helping, Babamiri, a 47-year-old fruit and vegetable farmer, did not see himself as a revolutionary but simply as someone doing what was right, says his daughter Zhino.
“There was intense firing from the forces and many protesters were injured. Everyone was helping each other and he volunteered,” she says. “I told him not to talk about it openly on the phone, but he said it wasn’t dangerous to help injured people. He just couldn’t watch young people bleed in the streets.”
Babamiri was arrested in April 2023 and questioned by the ministry of intelligence in Bukan. Zhino, 24, says the family initially believed it was a brief interrogation. “I was told [by relatives] not to worry and that he’d be home soon,” she says.
Instead, Babamiri disappeared into solitary confinement and was initially denied access to a lawyer or contact with his family, the Kurdish Human Rights Network says.
Last week, the family heard from a lawyer that Babamiri had been sentenced to death, along with four other Kurdish men, after being charged with “armed insurrection”, “leading and forming an armed group”, and “espionage for Israel”.
Zhino, who lives in exile in Norway, says the family have been horrified by the verdict. “When I heard about the death sentence, I was numb. When I called my grandmother and aunt, they were crying loudly. I have never heard them cry like that.”
Since his arrest, Zhino says several people have come forward with stories of how her father helped save their lives.
Iran Amputates Fingers of Three Prisoners for Theft
https://iranwire.com/en/news/143685-iran-amputates-fingers-of-three-prisoners-for-theft/
How many of “aghazadeh” (corrupt offsprings) of regime crooks get this kind of punishment
The Generation Iranian Hard-Liners Have Been Waiting for: https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/07/29/the-generation-iranian-hard-liners-have-been-waiting-for/
“The generation that once scoffed at the regime’s rhetoric is now learning—sometimes for the first time—why the government built a narrative of resistance in the first place. Almost overnight, I heard a profound shift among my many contacts across Iranian society. Even Iranians who once dismissed official slogans from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began repeating them. The strikes didn’t just spark a patriotic fervor. They ignited something more volatile: a widespread sense that foreign powers had crossed a line. Even among some of the most vocal critics of the regime, the anger turned not inward but outward. “I used to be one of those who would chant during protests to not send Iranian money to Lebanon or Palestine. But now I understand that the bombs we all face are one and if we don’t have strong defenses across the region, the war comes to us,” an artist in Tehran told me………………….The strikes certainly damaged Iran’s infrastructure, but they only strengthened Khamenei’s narrative. The regime survived. The leadership held. The streets didn’t explode in protest. Iran did not fragment. And internationally, Iran was no longer seen only as an aggressor but as a state under siege, once again resisting outside interference.”
A post from daughter of Mehdi Hassani political prisoner who was executed yesterday
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMm4le9tV4d/?igsh=MTF6NnNvaTR2bmsxYg%3D%3D
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https://www.iranintl.com/en/202507262289
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https://iranwire.com/en/prisoners/143502-iranian-father-faces-execution-over-bedroom-wall-calligraphy/
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https://iranwire.com/en/women/143479-17-year-old-girl-murdered-in-honor-killing-in-iran/
Ashkan: The Iranian Singer Who Survived Two Mock Executions
https://iranwire.com/en/special-features/143448-ashkan-the-iranian-singer-who-survived-two-mock-executions/
[Editor’s Note: The justification of Iranian authorities in executing a man whose “crime” was providing medical aid.]
Bukan, along with Mahabad, witnessed the fiercest clashes between security forces and the protesters, many of whom were armed and linked to Kurdish separatist groups. At least two officers were shot dead by the men Babamiri was providing aid to: https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1401/08/27/2805965
[Editor’s Note: All these charges were based on Babamiri’s provision of medical aid to protesters — no other evidence was provided.]
The “providing medical aid” charge was not why he was sentenced: https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/prisoners-database/rezgar-beigzadeh-babamiri
“In a court hearing that took place on 29 December 2024, Branch One of the Juvenile Criminal Court in West Azerbaijan Province sentenced Beigzadeh Babamiri to 15 years in prison on charges of “instigating murder”. Separately, on 7 July 2025, after three hearings, Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province, sentenced Beigzadeh Babamiri to death three times on charges of “armed insurrection” (baghi), “leading and forming an armed criminal group” under titles including “Rebels’ Association, Shamaran, Komala, and PAK” and “espionage for Israel”. The court also sentenced Beigzadeh Babamiri to 10 years, five years, and one year in prison, as well as a fine of 430 billion and 580 million rials (nearly 475,000 USD) on charges of “collaboration with the hostile government of Israel”, “propaganda against the state”, “assembly and collusion with the intention of undermining national security”, and “smuggling 120 Starlink satellite devices”.
Someday, psychologists will come up with a word to describe people’s state of mind in iran under this murderous regime. A wording similar to “Stockholm syndrome”.
I understand these occurrences are in minority and ordinary people are powerless. But where is the outrage why the indifference?
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https://iranwire.com/en/women/143420-brothers-kill-sister-over-phone-relationship-in-iran-parents-grant-forgiveness/