Iranian exiles in the US seek multimillions for years of brutal torture by notorious security chief

Exclusive: Three former dissidents are accusing the Shah of Iran’s “chief torturer” – who later relocated to Florida and became a real estate developer – over years of unimaginable abuse they say continues to haunt them to this day



Three former political dissidents now living in the U.S. are suing the Shah of Iran’s “chief torturer” – who later relocated to Florida and became a real estate developer – over years of unimaginable abuse they say continues to haunt them to this day.

“I have lived in fear of the Islamic Republic for the last four decades,” John Doe I, a 72-year-old California resident, wrote in an affidavit filed alongside the complaint. He says he has been the target of surveillance by Iranian agents, both online and in real life, that his child has been harassed on the street by regime supporters, and that the Iranian government has pressured his family members to divulge details of his current whereabouts.

In a separate affidavit, John Doe II, an 85-year-old also living in California, said he is “afraid of the Islamic Republic and its ability to silence dissidents no matter where they are in the world,” and that he believes Sabeti “would be willing and able to harm me and my family for my participation in this lawsuit.”

For his part, John Doe III, a 68-year-old Californian, maintains in his affidavit that he “do[es] not believe that residing in the United States protects me from harm by agents acting on behalf of the Iranian government.”


Iranian exiles in the US seek multimillions for years of brutal torture by notorious security chief | The Independent