14th July 2025 - United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, has raised serious concern over the potential “enforced disappearance” of detainees from Tehran’s Evin Prison, including Iranian–Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali.
In a post on X on 4 July, Sato said she continues to receive reports of worsening conditions for prisoners transferred from Evin to the Greater Tehran Penitentiary and Qarchak Prison, following Israeli airstrikes.
She warned that the whereabouts of several detainees remain unknown. Her comments come amid an intensifying crackdown in Iran, with mass arrests of journalists, activists, social media users, ethnic minorities, and foreign nationals—many accused of spying for Israel or collaborating with “hostile states.”
Sato condemned the ongoing wave of arbitrary detentions and expressed concern over a growing number of executions involving espionage charges. Ahmadreza Djalali, a dual national academic sentenced to death, has long symbolised Iran’s use of hostage diplomacy. His current condition and location remain unclear, prompting renewed alarm from rights groups.
Sato called on Iranian authorities to reveal the fate and location of all those detained and to respect their obligations under international human rights law.
