Shahabeddin Ayati: From Arrest and a Death Sentence to the Suspicious Death of His Father

When Shahabeddin Ayati went to an ATM near his home on August 19, 2025, in the midst of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, he could not have imagined that he would be arrested, let alone that by the end of the following spring, he would find himself in Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison, facing a death sentence, and that his father would pass away after the verdict was issued.

Informed sources have told IranWire that following Shahab Ayati’s arrest in August of last year, security agents went to his family home and searched the house for two hours. Even though this citizen lived with his mother and two sisters, the agents went so far as to search “even their undergarments.” They threatened that if the family pursued the case or leaked information to the media, they would “kill” not only their son but also other family members, including the father of the family, who lived in a separate house.

Initially, the political prisoner was transferred to the IRGC Intelligence prison and its main detention facility, known as “21 Steps.” This location is situated in a basement and consists of two sets of ten stairs separated by a landing. Ayati’s interrogators initially questioned him about his connection to “Israel.” Due to his possession of a quantity of cryptocurrency, they accused him of receiving the digital currency in exchange for cooperating with Israel.

Informed sources told IranWire that Shahabeddin Ayati was not politically active and therefore did not take the matter seriously, to the extent that during his interrogation, when asked, “Do you possess micro-drones (rizparandeh) or not?”, he replied, “Yes, I keep them in the backyard.” After security agents visited the Ayati family home once again and failed to find any micro-drones, they questioned him about it during his next interrogation session. In response, he stated that the micro-drones were kept at the back of the yard inside a cage and that they were called “quails.” Following this response, one of the interrogators punched Shahabeddin Ayati in the face; a metallic object, either a ring or brass knuckles, wounded the political prisoner’s forehead. The interrogator then remarked, “I will keep you here until this wound heals.”

Accordingly, Shahabeddin Ayati spent 61 days in the IRGC Intelligence prison, subjected to a daily “routine.” He faced interrogation sessions from 8:00 AM until 2:00 PM. These interrogations were accompanied by torture, including “electric shocks” and “stun guns,” to coerce the political prisoner into confessing to “cooperation with Israel.” Mr. Ayati would then be returned to solitary confinement, where Radio Quran was broadcast at a high volume. After this situation persisted for nearly two months, Mr. Ayati told his interrogators, “Write whatever you want, and I will sign it.”

The Verdict: Death

People who know Shahabeddin Ayati describe him as a “quiet” and “pious” individual, and his family as “religious,” “unassuming,” and “financially underprivileged.” Informed sources have told IranWire that Shahabeddin Ayati was transferred to Isfahan Central Prison on September 23, 2025, and was held in a state of legal limbo for eight months until his trial on May 20. He spent some time in the “reception ward” of Isfahan Central Prison and was subsequently moved to the prison’s “health ward.”

His trial was held at Branch 5 of the Isfahan Revolutionary Court, presided over by Vahid Hemmatnejad, on charges of “complicity in cooperating with unofficial individuals affiliated with the Zionist regime,” “intelligence cooperation and espionage for the benefit of the Zionist regime (Articles 6 and 7 regarding Hostile Actions),” and “cooperation with hostile foreign states against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The court’s ruling was issued on May 24 of this year. On charges of Moharebeh (“enmity against God”) and Efsad-fil-Ardh (“corruption on Earth”), which were based on “the judge’s knowledge,” he was sentenced to execution at Isfahan Central Prison and the confiscation of his property. Furthermore, on the charge of “cooperating with unofficial individuals of the Zionist regime,” he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in his place of residence.

The Death of the Father

Informed sources have told IranWire that before the issuance of the verdict, and while Shahabeddin Ayati was in detention, members of his family were systematically threatened with death by security apparatuses. On one specific day, while his mother, two sisters, and father were traveling by car to visit Shahabeddin Ayati at Isfahan Central Prison, a private vehicle attempted to run them off the road. Following the incident, a text message was sent to one of the family members stating: “If you continue to pursue Shahab’s case, we will eliminate you.”

Hesameddin Ayati, a retired education department teacher and the father of the political prisoner, passed away on June 2 of this year due to a stroke. Informed sources have told IranWire that he may have suffered a stroke upon hearing the news of his son’s death sentence.

Nevertheless, according to eyewitnesses, certain details surrounding the matter are “suspicious.” The body of the retired teacher was discovered two days after his death, even though during his last meeting with the family shortly before his passing, he had mentioned nothing about going to his private house. When the family went to Mr. Ayati’s residence following repeated unanswered phone calls, they found him in a situation where “his sitting posture was unusual, and he was wearing glasses that he only ever wore when using his mobile phone, whereas his phone was in another room.” Additionally, he always parked his car inside his courtyard, yet the car was found parked in the alley, far from the house.

The Forensic Medicine Organization declared the cause of death to be a blood clot that initially caused a heart attack, followed by a stroke. When the Ayati family approached the police to file a complaint regarding the “suspicious death of Hesameddin Ayati,” security agencies forced them to withdraw the complaint, and the case was declared closed. Nonetheless, a file regarding Mr. Ayati’s death has been opened, but the investigator assigned to it is the same interrogator who handled Shahabeddin Ayati’s case.

The funeral, third-day, and seventh-day memorial services for Hesameddin Ayati were held while prison and judicial authorities denied his son permission to attend. Shahabeddin Ayati remains in prison, having lost his father, facing the imminent danger of execution, and worrying about the health and safety of his remaining family members, all while still not knowing why he was arrested on the day he simply went to the ATM near his home.