Nazila Maroufian After Leaving Iran: I Was Threatened with 'Being Killed' by the Ministry of Intelligence

Nazila Maroufian, a journalist who has been arrested several times over the past year, says she left Iran after receiving a 'death threat' from the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Intelligence. In a video message published on Instagram on Tuesday, October 10, she explained that until recently she had 'not even thought about leaving' but after an official from the Ministry of Intelligence threatened her with 'being killed,' she went to Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and then migrated to France. This journalist from Saqqez, who was first arrested last year after an interview with Amjad Amini, the father of Mahsa Amini, states that she was no longer able to find work in Iran 'even as a salesperson' and felt her life was in danger, which is why she decided to leave. Showing visible signs of beatings on her face, she recounts how she was detained in Sulaymaniyah, where men beat her in the presence of a woman who was merely watching. Nazila emphasizes in her message that after being released from prison in Iran, she and her mother were summoned to the Ministry of Intelligence office on Khajeh Abdullah Street, where an official stared into her mother's eyes and said: 'Look! Your daughter is going to be killed. Your daughter will not survive. Either by drinking poisoned water or by being hit by a car, because your daughter has many enemies.' She adds that she asked the official, 'Who is my enemy? I have lived independently in Tehran for several years and have not faced any problems except for you coming after me.' The threat against this journalist by an official from the Ministry of Intelligence regarding being killed by drinking poisoned water comes in the wake of reports of the death of Arash (Milad) Forouzandeh, a protester from Abadan, after being released from one of the Islamic Republic's detention centers and suffering from poisoning due to 'drinking water given to him during interrogation.' Additionally, the mother of Maryam Arvin, a lawyer who died shortly after being released from prison, previously stated that the cause of her daughter's death was events that occurred during her detention and 'the IV drip' in prison 'under the pretext of sedatives and painkillers,' which 'destroyed' her. Furthermore, the threat against Nazila Maroufian of being killed in a traffic accident is notable as, in May of this year, Sediqeh Torani, the mother of Farhad Majdam, a victim of the November 2019 protests, died in a car accident that some have labeled 'suspicious' while traveling from Tehran to Qazvin to attend the court of Manoochehr Bakhtiari. The UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding committee previously expressed 'deep concern' regarding the escalation of the repression of girls and women and 'revenge' against protesters and the families of victims in a statement on the first anniversary of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini's death.