Iranian female doctor who treated wounded protesters dies under mysterious circumstances

The death of another Iranian female doctor who secretly treated the wounded protesters of the Mahsa Amini unrest sustaining "unusual injuries" has been found dead. Her body, with visible signs of torture, was handed by Iranian security forces to the family raising speculations about whether she became yet another innocent victim of the regime's crackdown on dissent. Iranian officials on Wednesday said that Dr. Aida Rostami committed “suicide," according to Iranian International. She had disappeared mysteriously earlier this week after she treated protesters in Ekbatan and other western neighbourhoods of Tehran. 

Body with injuries, bruises, including on genitals and broken arms

A source close to the family told Iran Wire that the local police station summoned the family on the night of December 12 and informed them that Rostami had died in a car crash. The 36-year-old was medically treating wounded protesters in Ekbatan when she had run out of some medical items such as sterile gas. She decided to make a purchase at the nearest pharmacy, but shortly after she left the house, the doctor was never seen again.

Her body has injuries and bruises, including on her genitals, and broken arms. The lids of one of the eyes of the young doctor were stitched together, apparently to conceal the removal of the eyeball. She may have been tortured and killed by the security forces, the family believes, adding that her death could be another coverup. The car accident was "definitely" not the cause of her death, a family member told the Tehran-based outlet. 

"The medical examiner told her family that they were ordered not to reveal the true cause of Aida's death. They said that she did not die in a car accident, they killed her," the family member was quoted saying. 

"It is not possible that when you are driving and you get an accident, both of your hands would break, your lower torso gets bruised, and your eye completely comes out," they furthermore added. 

The family alleges that the Iranian security forces did not allow them to see the body of the deceased woman until they pleaded, and neither did they reveal the cause of her death. They were asked to pick up her body at a morgue. The family insisted with the police show them Rostami’s car and the spot where the alleged accident occurred, but the officers did not comply with the request. Rostami's body was hurriedly buried in Gorgan. 

Earlier yesterday, the United States also imposed sanctions on key Iranian officials including the prosecutor general, and military officials in response to the brutal crackdown on protests. US Treasury Department in a statement said it slapped sanctions on Mohammad Montazeri, Iran’s Prosecutor General, for issuing the directive to courts leading to harsh sentences of those arbitrarily arrested during protests. An Iranian company Imen Sanat Zaman Fara that manufactures equipment for Iran's Law Enforcement Forces was also sanctioned. Among others are two senior officials of Iran’s Basij Resistance Forces, a militia affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards that have been widely deployed during the crackdown, and two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials.