The world’s interest in reaching a nuclear deal with Iran has compelled it to ignore the regime’s extensive human rights abuses, leaving its many “political prisoners, torture victims and persecuted ethnic minorities with little hope of any respite,” Rahim Hamid wrote in The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Hamid is a member of the Ahwazi Arab community, a minority that lives in the oil-rich southwest region of Iran. In 1925, Persia (now Iran) annexed and renamed the territory Khuzestan.

Hamid was arrested by the regime in 2008 and sent to the Sepidar prison after he attempted to form a student group to raise awareness about Ahwazi Arab culture, which is suppressed by Iran. He described the horrific conditions under which he was held.

Day and night I could hear the screaming and weeping of fellow prisoners – men, women and children – who were incarcerated and tortured there. It was the norm for guards to inflict casual cruelty, such as forbidding prisoners access to a toilet so that they were forced to urinate in the cell, which stank to a nausea-inducing extent in the heat.

Among other forms of physical torture, I was tied to a metal bed frame by the wrists and ankles and savagely whipped. If I resisted or cursed the guards, they would prolong and intensify the torture. …

During the torture sessions, my interrogators attempted to extract forced confessions from me; bullying me to state that I was involved with Ahwazi political parties abroad – a charge that I consistently denied, since it was untrue.

Hamid’s beatings caused him permanent medical problems, including multiple surgeries, chronic pain, and damage to his digestive system. While he was eventually freed on bail, his record as an activist had him blacklisted and prevented him from finding employment after his graduation.

Fearing another arrest, Hamid retained a low profile until 2011, when six prominent Ahwazi activists were arrested and sentenced to death. Four of activists had their punishments commuted to jail terms, but two were executed in January 2014 for charges including “enmity against God” and “corruption on earth.” This led Hamid to resume his human rights campaigning.

Hamid fled to Turkey in October 2012 after he was called on by Iran’s intelligence services to spy on his fellow Ahwazi activists, fearing re-arrest should he refuse. Hamid added that his family still suffers from persecution, noting that his brother was recently fired from his job “at the regime’s behest.”

Hamid explained that the Iranian regime views Ahwazi Arabs as “sub-humans … on account of our Arab ethnicity and desire for freedom.” He wrote that he considers himself lucky to have escaped, recognizing that he could have been jailed or executed, and dreams of the day that his people will be free.

Despite hopes that Iran would ease its human rights abuses after the election of President Hassan Rouhani two years ago, violations have persisted and worsened during his term in office. In June, the United States blasted Iran for its ongoing persecution of religious minorities. Last year, opposition activists accused Iran of increasing its oppression of ethnic minorities, and the regime faced international outrage for executing two Kurdish activists in August.

Saeed Ghasseminejad, an associate fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former Iranian political prisoner, warned this past summer that more engagement with Iran would lead to greater repression.

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