Unconfirmed Reports of 'Reburial' of Reza Shah's Body and Arrest of Two Civil Activists at the Discovery Site

Simultaneously with the statements of the head of the Cultural Commission of the Tehran City Council and the governor of Shahr-e Rey regarding the reburial of the body attributed to Reza Shah, some reports indicate the arrest of two political and civil activists near the shrine of Abdul Azim and the site of the body discovery. Kamran Iazi and Maryam Shariati are the arrested individuals. According to ISNA news agency, Hedayatollah Jamali Pour, the governor of Shahr-e Rey, reacted on Thursday, May 6, to reports about the discovery of the mummified body attributed to Reza Shah, stating that the old bodies discovered in this city 'will be buried in appropriate places.' Jamali Pour said, 'In the Rey area, especially in its cemeteries, sometimes due to the glorious history of this city, during excavations, old bodies or parts of old bodies are found, which are buried in appropriate places while observing religious issues.' Jamali Pour did not provide further explanations about this body and its possible burial location. Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Haqshenas, the head of the Cultural Commission of the Tehran City Council, based on 'unverified' reports, announced that the discovered body has been reburied. Previously, the website 'Roozarooz' had reported, quoting a local source, that 'after the mummified body was removed from the concrete container, it was placed in a metal container and reburied in the same vicinity of the shrine of Abdul Azim.' The discovery of the body attributed to Reza Shah has had widespread repercussions on social media. On one hand, some websites, including HRANA, reported a 'security atmosphere' and the presence of a large number of police officers at the shrine of Abdul Azim in Shahr-e Rey. Videos related to this issue have also been published on social media. The HRANA website also reported that Kamran Iazi, a civil activist and former political prisoner, was arrested on Wednesday, May 5, after being present near the site of the body attributed to Reza Shah. The Iran Human Rights Campaign on Twitter quoted Nasrin Sotoudeh stating that Maryam Shariati, her client who had gone to Shahr-e Rey, was 'violently' arrested by the officers and taken to an unknown location. Maryam Shariati is one of the protesters against compulsory hijab, whose being thrown by a police officer from a platform where she was standing to protest the compulsory hijab received widespread media and social media coverage. No information has been released regarding the reasons for the arrest of Kamran Iazi and Maryam Shariati. On the morning of May 3, some websites, including 'Roozarooz,' reported that a 'mummified' body had been discovered during the expansion project of the shrine of Abdul Azim in Shahr-e Rey, which may be the body of Reza Shah, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. However, a few hours later, Mostafa Ajorlou, the director of public relations of the Abdul Azim shrine, announced that the discovered body is 'the remains of a natural body' and 'its face is not recognizable.' Conversely, Hassan Khalilabadi, the head of the Cultural Heritage Committee of the Tehran City Council, stated that this corpse was 'mummified' and was found during excavations in the western part of the Shah Abdul Azim courtyard. Meanwhile, the head of the Cultural Commission of the Tehran City Council announced that the Abdul Azim shrine 'has not provided any official and accurate information' to the members of the City Council. Haqshenas added, 'The society is eagerly awaiting precise and clear information regarding this matter. There is no reason that, if it is proven that this body belongs to Reza Shah, we would not explain it to the society.' Meanwhile, Mohsen Renani, an economics professor at Iranian universities, wrote in a note that the body of Reza Shah 'is not only part of Iran's history but can also serve as a historical symbolic asset, creating a global tourist attraction for us in the future; similar to what Stalin's tomb does in Russia.' Prince Reza Pahlavi on Tuesday, May 4, in a statement published on his Twitter page, called on the Islamic Republic government and 'responsible officials' to allow trusted and family-approved doctors and scientific experts access to the body to clarify public minds and eliminate any ambiguity. Reza Shah's tomb was destroyed after the 1979 revolution by Sadegh Khalkhali, who was appointed as 'Sharia ruler' by Ayatollah Khomeini. Khalkhali claimed in his memoirs that no body was discovered during the destruction of this tomb and that Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took his father's body with him when he left Iran. However, Prince Reza Pahlavi has denied this claim. Khalkhali wrote in his memoirs that the destruction of Reza Shah's tomb took 20 days, and because the building was very solid, they could not demolish it with graders, bulldozers, cranes, and strong mechanical equipment, and ultimately used explosives. Reza Shah, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty, was forced to abdicate in September 1941 due to the invasion of British and Soviet forces in Iran and was exiled to South Africa. He died in August 1944 in that country, and his body was sent to Cairo, where it remained for several years as a loan after being mummified. Eventually, in 1949, his body was brought to Iran and buried in the shrine of Abdul Azim in Shahr-e Rey, south of Tehran, and later a monument was built on his grave, which was destroyed after the 1979 revolution by Sadegh Khalkhali, the Sharia ruler. The protests in December of last year again brought the name of Reza Shah and the Pahlavi family back to the political scene in Iran, with protesters chanting: 'Reza Shah, may your spirit be blessed,' 'What a mistake we made by revolting,' 'O King of Iran, return to Iran,' and 'Iran without a king has no accountability.'