A Christian convert who was among over 50 arrested by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence following last year’s 12-day war with Israel has died in a bus crash.

Hamed Mohebbi, a 40-year-old cafe owner, was on his way home after visiting some of the rehabilitating drug addicts he helped to support when the crash took place.

According to IranWire, he was the only one of 26 passengers killed.

Hamed, who lived in the northern city of Rasht, is described by those who knew him as having a “heart as big as the ocean”. 

“He would go to NA [Narcotics Anonymous] camps every week to follow up with recovering addicts,” a former cellmate told IranWire. “He would talk to them, give them advice, and hold their hands.”

Hamed was detained for six weeks following his arrest last June, when coffee supplies worth around $20,000 were confiscated from him, described by IranWire’s source as his “life’s capital”.

“They said it was contraband and harassed him, his brother and his family a lot,” the source said. “They tried to destroy his business, just to scare everyone else.”

Hamed’s court case was still ongoing when he died, but had been postponed due to the war. He was charged under the amended Article 500 of the Islamic penal code with “missionary activity contrary to and disruptive of the holy law of Islam by promoting ‘Zionist’ Christianity and holding a house church”. 

“He was accused of preaching Christianity, even though he really did not preach,” IranWire’s source said. “They only arrested him because he is a popular figure, to scare others.”

The vilification by state media of Narcotics Anonymous, “in an attempt to discredit the group for its Christian principles and to portray them as a front for Christian conspiracies to convert Muslims”, was one of the trends noted in Article18’s 2025 annual report.

This viewpoint was echoed by IranWire’s source, who said: “Because the security apparatus does not view the NA and AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] positively, there was a lot of pressure on Hamed.”

The source added that the authorities refused to return the coffee confiscated from him, saying: “Because he was a Christian, the attention and surveillance were heavier on him. Hamed always said that he was under surveillance and being monitored. He was called many times by the intelligence services.”