KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – KabulNow reporter has obtained information about the identity of the teenage boy who was beaten and tortured by Iranian police in Tehran on Monday, August 5.
The victim Sayed Mehdi Mosavi is originally from the Hazara-populated Nawmish district in southern Helmand province.
Earlier, our sources in Iran reported that Iranian police brutally tortured a 16-year-old immigrant from Afghanistan as part of their increasingly harsh campaign against Afghan immigrants in the country.
According to sources, the incident occurred when Iranian police launched a series of attacks on Afghan immigrants in various parts of the country. Fearing for his safety, Sayed Mehdi, who has a hearing impairment, tried to escape but was arrested by Iranian police.
A video clip obtained by KabulNow shows the teenage boy lying on the ground while an Iranian police officer kneels on his neck in the presence of several other officers.
The video shows an Iranian police officer applying full weight on the boy’s neck as he cries out in pain while nearby women, apparently the victim’s family members, scream and attempt to intervene. But the police push them back and drag the boy into a police vehicle.
Our sources said the teenage boy was later released because he had a headcount slip permitting him to stay in the country. However, he sustained a broken neck and is now receiving treatment in a hospital in the city.
The incident has sparked widespread outrage and criticism on social media, mainly among Afghan citizens worldwide, who are comparing it to the killing of George Floyd, an African American man who died in the US in May 2020 after a police officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck.
Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Afghanistan’s permanent representative to the UN, condemned the incident, describing the Iranian police’s treatment of Sayed Mehdi as “inhumane and un-Islamic.”
“The behavior and actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s police towards Afghan refugees and migrants, especially those with legal documents, are against accepted international principles and migration laws,” he said, urging the Iranian government to investigate the incident.
This incident occurs as the Islamic Republic has intensified the forced deportation of Afghan migrants in recent months, sending thousands of Afghan refugees back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan on a daily basis.
Following the killing of an Iranian citizen by two Afghan refugees in Tehran last month, pressure on Afghan refugees has intensified, with numerous reports of attacks by Iranian police and citizens.
Several Iranian social media users have launched a campaign called “Expelling Afghans, a National Demand,” which promotes hate speech against migrants and calls for the deportation of all Afghan immigrants.
For decades, Iran has hosted millions of Afghan refugees fleeing conflict, persecution, economic constraints, and political instability in their home country. According to the UN, approximately 4.5 million Afghans live in Iran, with 71% being women and children.
