Amid the ongoing protests against Hijab in Iran, celebrity chef Mehrshad Shahidi, popularly known as Iran’s Jamie Oliver, was allegedly beaten to death by the nation’s Revolutionary Guard forces.
His “ruthless” killing has triggered an outpouring of grief in Iran, where thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday during the funeral held for Shahidi. Ironically, he was killed a day before his 20th birthday.
The 19-year-old chef was arrested while participating at a protest and beaten to death with batons while in the custody of the Revolutionary Guard in Arak city, a report in The Telegraph said.
Heute, Arak, Beerdigung von dem 19 jährigen #MehrshadShahidi, der bei den Protesten totgeschlagen wurde.Das Video hat mir ein Kontakt geschickt: "Schau Mina, man konnte das Ende der Demo nicht sehen"
Die Menge ruft: Azadi (Freiheit)
Frauen führen an.#MahsaAmini #ZhinaAmini pic.twitter.com/dsaAv6xquk
— Mina Khani (@Khani2Mina) October 29, 2022
Reports said that he was killed after receiving blows to his skull, however, his family claimed that they were pressured to say that he died of a heart attack.
“Our son lost his life as a result of receiving baton blows to his head after his arrest, but we have been under pressure by the regime to say that he has died of a heart attack”, a relative of Mehrshad reportedly told Iran International TV.
The Iranian authorities have denied responsibility for the chef’s death and even went on to say that there were “no signs” of fractures in his arms, legs or skull or any brain injury.
Local reports said that Shahidi was arrested during a protest and beaten to death with batons at a detention centre.
Iranian American author Dr Nina Ansary said, “He was a talented young chef at Boote Restaurant.
“He was ruthlessly killed by security forces in Iran. Tomorrow would have been his 20th birthday. We will never forget. We will never forgive,” Ansary added.
Thousands of people reportedly took to the streets on Saturday during the funeral held for Shahidi. Reports have claimed arrests of at least a dozen doctors, journalists and artists in the ongoing protests in Iran following outrage over Mahsa Amini’s death.
The killing comes amid reports that European Union is examining whether to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a “terrorist organisation”.
Asked what further actions Berlin and the EU planned, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told broadcaster ARD: “As I made clear last week, we will launch a further sanctions package, we are also examining how we can list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation.”
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