An Iranian civil activist and client of a lawyer who died under suspicious circumstances has gone missing after being summoned to intelligence offices in Mashhad.
Kamal Jafari Yazdi was called to the Ministry of Intelligence office on Wednesday and has not been heard from since, sources told IranWire.
Family and friends have expressed concern about his safety and whereabouts.
Jafari Yazdi was a friend and client of Khosrow Alikurdi, a lawyer who died over the weekend and was among the signatories of a letter calling for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s resignation.
The letter, known as the “14 people” statement, attracted significant attention from Iranian authorities in 2019.
Jafari Yazdi, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war who fought alongside Alikurdi’s father, was released on bail from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad about three weeks ago after a year in detention.
In a letter to a UN fact-finding mission, Alikurdi said his life was in danger and referenced cases being built against him for representing clients, including Jafari Yazdi and other signatories of the 14-person letter.
The disappearance comes as Javad Alikurdi, the late lawyer’s brother, announced on Wednesday that the Mashhad Revolutionary Court had summoned him.
In a message, he said he considered the summons “under any circumstances” a source of pride and a sign of commitment to “truth, justice, and human responsibility.”
Javad Alikurdi called on the public not to forget his or his brother’s fate should “silence be imposed” on him.
IranWire previously reported that friends and family of Khosrow Alikurdi were threatened by security agencies not to “give excuses to the enemy media” and to say his death resulted from a stroke.
Evidence suggesting his death was suspicious includes the confiscation of personal items without receipts, the seizure of 16 security camera recordings from his home and office, and authorities’ refusal to allow his burial in Mashhad or Sabzevar due to “fear of public gathering.”
Friend of Dead Iranian Lawyer Missing After Summons by Intelligence Ministry
