Reza Amini, the mayor of Ahwaz, has submitted his resignation to the Minister of Interior. The announcement came only hours after a call circulated on social media for a protest in the Zeytoon district of Ahwaz—the location where 20-year-old Ahmad Baledi set himself on fire.
In his resignation letter, Amini made no reference to the tragedy and offered no condolences to the Baledi family. Instead, he spoke of “hostile enemies and media networks,” claiming there were concerns that “serious threats may be posed against this region.” He also urged the City Council to “entrust this position of service to someone else so that, with the prudence and vigilance of the people, any opportunity for disruption by the enemies of the revolution is eliminated.”
Call for Protest in Ahwaz
Amini’s resignation came just hours before the scheduled protest. Civil and cultural activists had organized the gathering to commemorate Ahmad Baledi and to protest the performance of the Ahwaz municipality.
According to Ahwazi human-rights and cultural activists, the sudden timing of the mayor’s resignation is a clear sign of the authorities’ fear of any emerging protest movement in Ahwaz—a city that in recent years has become one of the centers of public anger and discontent in Ahwaz provience(Khuzestan).
The resignation was announced amid conflicting reports about whether the mayor had been arrested or remained in office. The Ahwaz prosecutor stated that Amini had been arrested in connection with Baledi’s case and later released on bail. However, the mayor denied this in a one-minute video posted on his official page, claiming he remained at work without any mention of Baledi or his family.
His silence regarding Baledi’s death provoked strong reactions among Arab residents and activists in Ahwaz. In response, the Public Relations Office of the Ahwaz Municipality issued a statement dismissing the reports of his arrest as “baseless rumors.” Yet the prosecutor’s official remarks—confirming the issuance of judicial supervision orders and a temporary ban on Amini’s presence at his workplace—made the municipality’s denial unconvincing.
In response to these contradictions, the “Karun Human Rights Organization” stated that “the conflicting positions of the judiciary and the Ahwaz municipality are a clear attempt to manage the crisis and evade accountability.” The organization also called for “an independent investigation into the role of municipal officials in the death of Ahmad Baledi.”
