When Shahabeddin Ayati went to an ATM near his home on August 19, 2025, in the midst of the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, he could not have imagined that he would be arrested, let alone that by the end of the following spring, he would find himself in Isfahan’s Dastgerd Prison, facing a death sentence, and that his father would pass away after the verdict was issued.
Informed sources have told IranWire that following Shahab Ayati’s arrest in August of last year, security agents went to his family home and searched the house for two hours. Even though this citizen lived with his mother and two sisters, the agents went so far as to search “even their undergarments.” They threatened that if the family pursued the case or leaked information to the media, they would “kill” not only their son but also other family members, including the father of the family, who lived in a separate house.
Initially, the political prisoner was transferred to the IRGC Intelligence prison and its main detention facility, known as “21 Steps.” This location is situated in a basement and consists of two sets of ten stairs separated by a landing. Ayati’s interrogators initially questioned him about his connection to “Israel.” Due to his possession of a quantity of cryptocurrency, they accused him of receiving the digital currency in exchange for cooperating with Israel.
