Detained professor dies, latest suspicious death

An Iranian-canadian university professor detained in Tehran has died in custody, activists and a family member said Sunday, marking the latest suspicious death of a detainee in Iran after a crackdown on dissent after nationwide protests.

They identified the professor as Kavous Seyed-emami, a 63-year-old professor of sociology at Imam Sadeq University in Tehran. His son and the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran say that authorities told Seyed-emami’s family that he committed suicide in custody.

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi later confirmed the professor’s death on Sunday, saying he had been detained in an espionage ring.

Ebrahim Noroozi The Associated Press Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech Sunday in Tehran, Iran, during a rally marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.