Iranian Protester Dies In Custody, Opposition Website Reports

Nader Mokhtari

A man who took part in Iran’s anti-establishment protests in November has died in a detention center in Tehran, the opposition website Kalame reported.

Nader Mokhtari, 35, died over the weekend at the Kahrizak detention center, Kalame reported.

Iranian officials have not commented on the report.

Mokhtari had slipped into a coma after being beaten with truncheons by security forces during a protest in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, the report said.

He regained consciousness in late March and was transferred to Kahrizak, where he was hospitalized despite objections by his family and doctors, the report said.

Kalame said Mokhtari’s body has not been yet handed over to his family, which, according to the report, is under “severe pressure” to remain silent.

Amnesty International has said that at least 304 people were killed in the state crackdown on the November protests that erupted following a sudden hike in the price of gasoline.

Iranian authorities have dismissed as exaggerated the death toll reported by Amnesty and other international rights groups, but have not published an official figure.