Leaked Video Exposes Brutal Abuse of Teenage Detainee in Iranian Police Station

A disturbing video that surfaced on social media in mid-September has ignited widespread outrage across Iran, showing police officers subjecting a teenage detainee to physical violence and sexualised humiliation inside a police station in the country's East Azerbaijan province. The footage, posted on September 17, 2026, offers rare visual proof of what experts describe as a longstanding pattern of mistreatment by Iranian law enforcement, particularly against individuals accused of common crimes.

The video captures at least five police officers along with one man in civilian clothing inside a courtyard. Four of the officers are seen punching and kicking the teenage boy, while two others carry out acts of sexualised humiliation. At one point, an officer partially pulls down the boy's trousers as the others mock him, with two officers then slapping and grabbing his buttocks. The dialogue in the footage is in Azeri, with Persian subtitles added later.

In the recorded exchange, one officer taunts the teenager, calling him a thug and claiming he pulls knives on people. The officer makes crude remarks about the boy's body and states that he will be raped at the police station. The victim protests, insisting he is not a thug and asking why he is being treated this way. The cruelty of the scene is compounded by the casual manner in which the officers appear to carry out the abuse.

Using multiple sources, including other videos of police stations in Tabriz circulating on social media, FRANCE 24's Observers team was able to geolocate the footage. The video was recorded in the courtyard of Police Station No. 14, located in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in the southwest of Tabriz. A reconstruction based on different frames from the clip, compared with architectural features visible in official videos of the same station, confirmed the location. Matching details included a blue entrance, a window and distinctive structural elements near ground level.

On September 18, police in East Azerbaijan province responded to the growing online storm by stating that the incident actually occurred on June 4, when the teenager was arrested following a street fight. According to their account, the boy was 17 years old at the time of his arrest. The authorities did not clarify whether he had been formally charged or convicted in connection with the altercation. The gap between the date of the incident and the video's emergence raises questions about how long such abuse may have gone unreported.

A day after the footage was posted and widely shared, prompting public indignation, Fars News, an Iranian news agency with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard Corps, published a video report titled "A glimpse of the Tabriz criminal's violent conduct". The report featured interviews with several people who claimed they had been attacked with a machete by the same teenager, portraying him as a source of insecurity in the neighbourhood. The move appeared to be an attempt to shift public attention toward the detainee's alleged criminal history rather than the conduct of the officers involved.

Police acknowledged that the teenager had prior convictions related to street fights, harassment and drug dealing. However, they also stated that none of these allegations could justify the officers' improper behaviour. According to the police statement, all officers involved had been disciplined and suspended until further notice, with any additional punishment depending on a court ruling. The statement did not specify whether the disciplinary measures were taken before or after the video appeared on September 17, leaving open the possibility that the officers faced consequences only because the footage became public.

Niki Mahjoub, an Iranian independent journalist based in Europe who has reported on social issues in Iran for more than three decades, said the footage reflects a broader and deeply troubling pattern. She noted that police not only fail to conceal some of this misconduct but sometimes display it openly. Parading people accused of violent crimes through cities while beating and publicly humiliating them is a common punishment for those the authorities label as "thugs", she explained.

Mahjoub added that the situation has worsened in recent years. The authorities have even published videos showing suspects who were shot with live ammunition during their arrest, she said. She also pointed to what she described as an increase in sexual harassment cases in recent years. While it remains unclear whether such incidents are becoming more frequent or simply more visible due to the spread of social media, the expert's assessment underscores the climate of impunity that surrounds Iranian police conduct.

The video has become a focal point for public anger in Iran, where similar cases of abuse rarely come to light because of restrictions on media and the reluctance of victims to speak out. The fact that the footage was geolocated to a specific station and drew an official response suggests the images were considered too damaging to ignore. Yet the authorities' initial efforts to publicise the teenager's alleged offences have been criticised as an attempt to blame the victim and divert attention from the officers' actions.

The case also highlights the risks faced by minors in Iranian detention. At 17, the detainee was still a teenager, and the treatment he allegedly endured raises serious concerns about the protections, or lack thereof, for juvenile suspects. The officers' remarks in the video, including the threat of rape, suggest a culture in which sexual violence is used as a tool of humiliation and control. For many Iranians, the footage confirms long-held suspicions about what happens behind the walls of police stations.

While the police have promised an investigation and disciplinary measures, questions remain about the independence and transparency of any future legal process. Iranian courts have historically been criticised for siding with security forces, and it is unclear whether the officers will face meaningful accountability. The fact that the incident reportedly occurred in June but only became public in September also suggests that internal oversight mechanisms failed to address the abuse promptly.

The video's circulation on social media has allowed it to evade state censorship, at least temporarily, and has sparked conversations that official media would prefer to suppress. For Iranian citizens who have long heard anecdotal accounts of police brutality, the images provide rare confirmation. For international observers, the case adds to a growing body of evidence documenting systemic abuses within Iran's law enforcement apparatus, even as the government continues to deny the scale of the problem.

As the investigation proceeds, the teenager at the centre of the scandal remains a vulnerable figure, his identity and future uncertain. The public outrage may fade, but the footage serves as a permanent record of what took place in the courtyard of Police Station No. 14. Whether it will lead to genuine reform or simply another round of temporary suspensions and empty promises is a question that hangs over a case that has already exposed the harsh realities of justice in the Islamic Republic.