Activist takes own life in protest at Iranian regime

A well-known Iranian human rights activist has killed himself in protest at what he called the dictatorship of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In a post on social media, Kianoosh Sanjari said he would take his own life if four political prisoners were not released by 19:00 local time (16:30 BST) on Wednesday.

When authorities did not free the prisoners, he posted an image taken from high up overlooking a busy junction in the capital Tehran on X.

"My life will end after this tweet," he wrote at 19:20, adding: "I wish that one day Iranians will wake up and overcome slavery."

"No one should be imprisoned for expressing their opinions.

"Protest is the right of every Iranian citizen."

His death was confirmed hours later by fellow activists.

Sanjari was a vocal critic of Iran's leaders and advocate for democracy.

On Wednesday morning, he posted an ultimatum on X, demanding the release of four political prisoners.

"If Fateme Sepehari, Nasreen Shakrami, Tomaj Salehi and Arsham Rezaei are not released from prison by 19:00 today ... I will end my life in protest against the dictatorship of Khamenei and his partners."

All four were arrested for their support and involvement in the wave of unprecedented protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in 2022 after being detained by Iran’s morality police.

Sanjari was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his political activism between 1999 and 2007.

He left Iran in 2007 and received asylum in Norway, before joining US broadcasting service Voice of America's Persian service in Washington DC.

He returned to Iran in 2016 to be with his parents, and was arrested and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment in Evin prison, where political prisoners are often imprisoned.

He was released on bail in 2019 on medical grounds, and subsequently taken to a psychiatric hospital.

He told local media he was given electric shocks, chained to a bed and injected with substances.

"Kianoosh Sanjeri is not just a name, it is a symbol of years of pain, resistance and struggle for freedom," freedom of speech activist Hossein Ronaghi posted on X.