Behdad Esfahbod Iran Detention Updated March 2025

In January 2020, shortly after the US assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, I traveled to Iran for a two-week family visit. The night after I arrived, the IRGC kept civilian air traffic in the sky as a human shield and shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, killing all 176 passengers and crew. I was in Tehran, where the flight had departed and many of the victims lived. A few days later, four plainclothes agents confronted me on the street, showed me an arrest warrant, and forced me into their car.

They drove me to my sister's apartment, where I was staying, and seized my phone, laptop, passport, and other belongings. They then took me blindfolded to Evin Prison. I was held in the IRGC Intelligence Ward 2A, a notorious section where political prisoners are detained, and interrogated for a week. Agents thoroughly searched my online and offline data, accused me of working with anti-regime activist groups abroad, and pressured me to act as an informant because of my large network of activist friends. I was released after promising to cooperate and putting up an apartment as collateral for bail.

I left Iran soon afterward and flew to Lisbon, Portugal, where I had a residence. In Lisbon, I was lonely, traumatized, and paranoid. It took me a month to regain access to my online accounts. I then flew back to the United States, where I was living. I was questioned at the border for two hours but allowed to enter. Soon afterward, the pandemic lockdown began.

In June 2020, the IRGC called to activate me as an informant. I did not answer. They then contacted my sister in Tehran. When it became clear that I would not cooperate, a judiciary letter arrived at her home ordering me to report to prison. That was when I decided to go public with my story.

Unable to return to work, I asked my psychiatrist for ADHD medication, not knowing that I had bipolar II disorder. The medication triggered a manic episode. In July 2020, while manic, I quit my job at Facebook in Seattle, moved to Canada, where I am a citizen, and began a new life close to my sister's family in Edmonton, Alberta.

While manic, I published the full story on my blog and shared it on Twitter. It went viral, and journalists contacted me.

Since then, I have been in therapy, remained on medication, and continued to recover. As of March 2025, I am safe, healthy, and happy. I am grateful for the support of my friends and family, for Canada's mental-health system despite its long waits, and for the freedom and safety afforded by my Canadian citizenship.

In 2024, I wrote an update on my mental health and made a five-minute short film about the episode.

I have also written a detailed account of the detention and its aftermath in Persian.