Manouchehr Bakhtiari, father of slain protester Pouya Bakhtiari, was sent back to Chubindar Prison in Qazvin after suffering a heart attack. His return follows 500 consecutive days in solitary confinement and prolonged denial of medical treatment for life-threatening conditions. Bakhtiari was originally arrested in December of 2019 after seeking justice for his son, calling for an end to the Islamic Republic, and vocalizing support for the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.

Manouchehr Returns to Prison Despite Worsening Health Condition

On December 6, 2024, Manouchehr Bakhtiari, father of slain protester Pouya Bakhtiari, suffered a heart attack while receiving medical care in captivity.
- After 5 years of imprisonment, Bakhtiari’s health deteriorated significantly, requiring specialized care unavailable within the prison system. On March 24, 2023, it was revealed that Bakhtiari was not permitted to receive treatment by correctional authorities for 290 consecutive days, despite receiving approval from the state medical examiner.
- On November 25, 2024, Bakhtiari underwent corrective surgery to treat one of the many compounding health issues when a severe blood clot and subsequent heart attack forced him to remain in specialized care. Prior to the heart attack, regime officials attempted to transfer him back to prison only hours after his initial surgery, despite outcry from medical staff and family members.
- On December 9, 2024, just days after his heart attack, Bakhtiari was forcibly returned to prison. Despite pleas from medical staff urging “absolute rest,” he was taken back into custody by the next morning.

Timeline of the Prolonged Imprisonment of Manouchehr Bakhtiari

The first of many arrests occurred on December 23, 2019, when security forces raided the Bakhtiari family's home and arrested Pouya Bakhtiari's mother, father, sister, grandmother, grandfather, an 11-year-old child, and several other relatives. While some detainees were released after a few days, Pouya's mother, father, sister, and uncle remained in custody despite not having committed any crimes. He and his family were all released by the end of that January.

His 2nd arrest occurred on July 13, 2020, when Bakhtiari was detained in Kish for protesting a 25-year deal between Iran and China. A widely circulated video from this time showed him holding up a Lion & Sun flag and expressing his support for the Crown Prince, which garnered significant international attention. It was shortly thereafter, he and his wife were arrested. Bakhtiari and his wife were harassed and beaten during their arrest. For his activism in support of the Crown Prince and advocating for the overthrow of the IRI, Bakhtiari was sentenced to two years, six months in prison and handed a two-year travel ban.

His third arrest occurred in May of 2021, due to viral protests against the Islamic Republic. This time, however, Bakhtiari was subjected to beatings, harassment, and mistreatment by security forces. He was placed in the trunk of a car by so-called security forces and transferred to Karaj Prison.

On July 20, 2022, the first reports of Bakhtiari’s deteriorating health condition were made public by his wife Sara, who reported that his most recent hunger strike was cut short due to significant gastrointestinal bleeding and disease; reportedly requiring an IV and removal from solitary confinement. After only three days of treatment, he was transferred to a prison facility in Qazvin.

By 2023, Bakhtiari had suffered for 290 days from severe illness while being denied treatment approved by the state medical examiner. His wife, Sara, stated on Instagram that Bakhtiari had been barred from contacting his family for nearly a year and endured nearly 500 days in solitary confinement as punishment for his hunger strikes and anti-regime activism. It was this time when Bakhtiari released an audio file from prison in which he said, “The Islamic Republic is trying to kill me in custody”
- Around this time, he was sentenced to a further 18 years and 74 lashes by the Karaj Revolutionary Court for charges including
  - “Conspiracy and collusion with the intent to commit crimes against national security”
  - “Formation and Management of a Group in Cyberspace to Disrupt the Country's Security”
  - “Propaganda Activity Against the System and Disturbing the Public Mind”
  - “Cooperating with Dissident Groups”

As of 2024, Bakhtiari’s condition had degraded significantly, requiring prolonged hospitalization and specialized care that was promptly denied by prison officials. Despite fainting, internal bleeding, and aggressive disease, Bakhtiari was forced to return back into solitary confinement. In March, the Alborz Court of Appeals overturned the Karaj Revolutionary Court’s sentencing of 18 years of prison and 74 lashes, citing a lack of jurisdiction of the trial court and referring it back to the Kish Revolutionary Court; Bakhtiari now awaits sentencing from Kish. After undergoing corrective surgery, Bakhtiari suffered a heart attack, but was subsequently returned to captivity a little more than a week later.

Systematic Targeting of Iranian Dissidents and Their Families

The prolonged incarceration of Manouchehr Bakhtiari and the years-long persecution of his family reflect a systemic strategy by the regime to punish political dissidents and their loved ones.

- Nika Shahkarami was murdered by regime officials during the peak of the Women, Life, Freedom movement. Her body was confiscated and her family was forced to lie about the circumstances surrounding her death. Like the Bakhtiari’s, Nika’s mother and sister were arrested after both vehemently denied claims that Nika had killed herself.

- Kian Pirfalak was murdered by targeted regime gunfire during the Women, Life, Freedom movement. His mother, Mahmonir Molaei, was put under house arrest and summoned to the regime's intelligence office. The reasoning for the summons, according to IranWire, was for the commemoration of the legacy of Kian on his 10th birthday, one year after his death. His uncle, Sajjad Pirfalak, was arrested by intelligence officers the same day Kian’s mother received her summons.

The tactic of targeting and silencing dissident voices and their families is yet another example of the cruel and inhumane nature of the Islamic Republic. The active attempt to nullify the voices of those most directly impacted by terrorist-like policies of the regime not only serves to suppress any semblance of civil society from forming within Iran, it also ensures those with the most insight into the criminal actions of the regime have no willingness to dissent against that very entity.
- It also serves the purpose of ensuring those who are murdered by the regime will be unable (or very difficult) to become memorialized/heroes of the movement; as the regime forces funerals to be held in private, at religious sites, or not happen at all.

Why Pezeskhian Won’t “Reform” the Regime

Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's newly “elected” president, campaigned as a reformist, promising moderate policies and a departure from the regime’s overt suppression of dissent. While he has publicly criticized certain policies to appeal to his supporters and Western media outlets, he has also - both publicly and privately - repeatedly reaffirmed his loyalty to the Supreme Leader. Despite his reformist claims, Pezeshkian has repeatedly demonstrated his alignment with hardline principles, consistently expressing unwavering support for the Supreme Leader.
- After Pezehskian entered office, an immediate surge of executions were announced by his administration, with October 2024 setting a record for the most executions in one month in over 20 years.
  - Arvin Ghahremani was an Iranian Jew who was executed by the Islamic Republic in November of 2024. Ghahremani was allegedly attacked by a group of seven men armed with deadly weapons and defended himself, killing one of his attackers in the process. In April of 2023, the Kermanshah criminal court sentenced Ghahremani to death for the “premeditated murder” of his attacker, despite Ghahremani not being afforded due process and the lack of evidence that the case was premeditated.
  - Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen and U.S. national, was executed this past November in Iran after being held hostage for several years. Sharmahd was waiting for a connecting flight in Dubai when agents belonging to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence abducted and transported him to Iran, through Oman. In February of 2024, the Tehran Revolutionary Court baselessly sentenced him to death for “corruption on Earth.”

While promises of tolerability have been given to the Iranian people, the family of Manouchehr Bakhtiari have yet to be on the receiving end of these supposedly inbound moderate policies. Under Pezeshkian the oppressive policies instituted under the Raisi administration remain, yet the rhetoric out of Tehran continues to promise an era of reform for the people of Iran.

Recommendations

1. Designation of Violators and Adjacent Institutions

The United States should designate the judges, interrogators, and institutions directly involved in Manouchehr Bakhtiari’s persecution—and similar cases— as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) or Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs), or apply targeted sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act. This designation would:

Block/freeze their access to U.S. financial institutions and property.

Publicly designate and announce to the International community that this individual has violated human rights.

Deny entry to the U.S. and revoke existing visas

Hold these individuals and institutions accountable for their egregious human rights violations, sending a clear message that the United States will act decisively against those who perpetuate injustice.

Effective, targeted economic sanctions against the individuals directly responsible.

The designation should also include high-ranking officials complicit in the systematic targeting of dissidents, reinforcing the U.S.’s commitment to defending global human rights.

2. Amplified Advocacy Through the Executive and Legislature

The United States needs to take a unified, public stance against Manouchehr Bakhtiari’s wrongful imprisonment and the systemic silencing of Iranian political dissidents. Specific actions could include:

Executive Advocacy:

The President, Secretary of State, and their respective deputies/representatives, should raise Bakhtiari’s, and thousands of other Iranians’ cases, in international forums, conferences, and summits, to leverage the massive diplomatic network of the U.S. to pressure the Islamic Republic for his release and the cessation of dissident-targeting policy.

- The U.S. president should release a televised or written, joint-statement with the Secretary of State condemning the actions of the regime

The White House should collaborate with regional partners, European allies, the UN, and other international bodies to adopt similar positions, creating a comprehensive, all-inclusive condemnation from the world against the actions of the regime and its treatment of its own constituency.
- UN Resolutions: Push for a UN Human Rights Council resolution condemning Iran’s treatment of political prisoners and establishing an independent investigation into systemic abuses.
- Global Awareness Campaigns: Partner with international NGOs to raise awareness about cases like Bakhtiari’s and highlight the broader implications of Iran’s human rights abuses.

The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) should increase its focus and resources on documenting and broadcasting human rights cases like Bakhtiari’s. USAGM’s outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Farda, play a crucial role in:

- Exposing the regime’s abuses to domestic and international audiences.

- Providing Iranians with uncensored information about their government’s actions and fostering solidarity among activists
- Giving a platform to victims’ families and dissidents, ensuring their voices are heard and their stories widely disseminated.

3. Audit and Oversight of U.S. Human Rights Funding

The State Department’s human rights funding must undergo rigorous audits to ensure that U.S. resources are effectively supporting victims of oppression and are allocated without political or ideological discrimination. To this end:
- Commission independent audits of recipients of U.S. human rights funding to guarantee compliance with non-discrimination principles and proper allocation to all victims, regardless of their political views.
- Develop and enforce “Funding Equity Guidelines”, which ensure that human rights organizations receiving U.S. funds equitably represent victims, particularly those persecuted for political activism or dissent.
- Require detailed reporting from funding recipients to ensure transparency and track the impact of these funds in supporting dissidents like Manouchehr Bakhtiari.