Government Inspection Team Deployed to Investigate 'All Aspects' of Mahabad Incident

The Iranian Minister of Interior announced the dispatch of an inspection team to investigate 'all aspects' of the Mahabad incident, stating that 21 law enforcement personnel were 'injured but did not take action.' According to the state news agency IRNA, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli expressed 'regret' over the death of Farinaz Khosravani and the 'conditions that arose from this incident,' adding, 'If timely planning and the help of local trusted individuals in Mahabad had not been present, this personal matter would certainly have turned into a security issue causing significant damage.' Three days prior to these statements, Alireza Radfar, the political-security deputy of West Azerbaijan province, stated that 25 people were injured in the unrest in Mahabad, including seven police officers. Meanwhile, Amnesty International called on Iranian security forces to refrain from unnecessary violence against protesting citizens in Mahabad. The unrest in Mahabad occurred after local websites and social media pages claimed that a girl named Farinaz Khosravani, an employee of the Tara Hotel in Mahabad, jumped out of a window to prevent a sexual assault by 'a security officer' and died. Following this unrest, the Tara Hotel in Mahabad was set on fire on Thursday, May 17. Iranian judicial and government officials reported the arrest of the suspect in this incident but denied any connection to security agencies and any rumors regarding the assault on the deceased. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli also stated that 'this Mahabadi girl, due to her personal relationship with the accused, who was her suitor, acted out of fear and concern by collaborating with her colleague on the third floor to exit through the window, which led to her falling due to a lack of control.' Meanwhile, the head of the judiciary in Mahabad stated, 'No sane person would accept that someone threw the deceased out of the hotel window or that she intended to commit suicide, as the place of her fall is far from the window of the room she was in.' According to the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, Samad Hazrati emphasized, 'The deceased and the suspect intended to marry each other, and that day, solely for the purpose of marriage, this woman had gone to the suspect's room with prior coordination to discuss their marriage.' Mr. Hazrati mentioned that perhaps the reason for the deceased's 'keeping her relationship with the suspect secret was fear of the hotel manager and expulsion,' adding that 'the suspect was also arrested on charges of being alone with a non-mahram.'