An Iranian man who posted a lengthy video pleading with US President Donald Trump not to strike a deal with Tehran has reportedly died by suicide shortly after sharing the message online.
Activists and local media identified the man as Pouria Hamidi, a resident of the southern port city of Bushehr.
Hamidi's 10-minute, 44-second video circulated widely on social media over the weekend. In English, he appealed directly to American leaders and the international community, saying his aim was to highlight what he described as a deadly government crackdown on anti-regime protests.
Final message posted online
"If you're watching this, then I'm not around anymore," Hamidi said in the video posted to his YouTube channel PoorY X on 5 February. He titled the recording: "This Is My Sacrifice - Please, Free My Country".
In the clip, Hamidi claimed that "more than 40,000 people died, killed, massacred, more than the Russia-Ukraine war, and more than the Israel-Palestine war," alleging mass casualties during recent unrest. He urged the US not to pursue any agreement with Iran's leadership, warning that doing so would "betray all those people who died."
"So please, I beg you, do whatever you can to stop this deal," he added.
Hamidi said Trump had previously encouraged Iranians to continue protesting, and insisted that civilians were powerless against heavily armed security forces. "America attacking Iran is the only hope we have right now," he claimed. "We can't fight this regime alone. Our people need foreign intervention."
Support for exiled opposition
During the video, Hamidi voiced support for exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, calling him "the best choice to make a transitional government." He also urged rival opposition groups abroad to "come together and stop fighting each other."
He described widespread despair among ordinary Iranians, saying: "You don't know how hopeless our people are right now. I mean, I myself, I can't eat. I can't sleep." He added: "I can't even cry about it because it's so laughable to be born in a place like this, to have no future."
Hamidi said creating the video was his attempt to give "meaning" to his life and to encourage Iranians to stand by each other. He ended by switching to Persian, saying: "We people of Iran are lonely people and have nobody, so please support each other. Long live Iran," according to Iran International.
The outlet reported that Hamidi died by suicide shortly after posting the video, though the claim has not been independently confirmed.
Accusations against Iran's leadership
In the recording, Hamidi accused the authorities of hiring "terrorist groups, Muslim terrorist groups, to kill people," and said families still did not know the fate of many victims. He asserted that younger Iranians were distancing themselves from Islam, remarking, "We are running away from it, especially my generation."
Crackdown intensifies amid diplomatic openings
News of Hamidi's death emerged as the Iranian government intensified arrests following recent nationwide protests. Authorities detained several activists, including Javad Emam, spokesperson for a leading reformist bloc. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi received additional prison time on Saturday, and on Monday security forces arrested Hossein Karoubi, the son of prominent dissident Mehdi Karoubi.
The moves come weeks after the government suppressed one of the most significant protest waves since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
At the same time, Iranian and US officials have held talks in Oman, which both sides described as constructive, signalling that Tehran is maintaining a dual strategy: tightening its grip on internal dissent while keeping a diplomatic channel open for potential future negotiations.