If you're watching this, I am dead: Iran man makes video appeal to Trump, kills self

An Iranian man from the country's southern port city of Bushehr has reportedly taken his own life after releasing a video message urging US President Donald Trump and Western governments not to pursue any diplomatic agreement with Iran's ruling establishment, according to reports by opposition-linked media outlets and regional publications, Iran International.

The man, identified by Iranian media and activists as Pouria Hamidi, recorded a roughly 10-minute video in English that went viral over the weekend. In the recording, he pleaded to US President Donald Trump, saying he hoped to draw international attention to what he described as a deadly crackdown on protests in Iran and calling for foreign intervention against the country's leadership.

The clerical regime of Ayatollah Khamenei brutally suppressed anti-government protests in Iran in January. Reports suggest that thousands of people, including women and children, had been killed in the crackdown.

"If you’re watching this, then I’m not around any more," he said at the start of the video, adding that he was speaking to raise awareness about a massacre carried out by Iranian authorities during recent unrest. "More than 40,000 people died, killed, massacred. More than Russia and Ukraine and more than Israel and Palestine."

India Today Digital couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the video or the fate of Hamidi.

Addressing US leaders directly, Hamidi urged them to abandon diplomacy with Tehran, saying any agreement would "betray all those people who died." "So please," he said. "I beg you, do whatever you can to stop this deal."

He also added that US President Trump had told the Iranians to "keep protesting, and we did, we trusted him." Addressing a possible future deal, Hamidi said that fighting people carrying guns is not possible, framing that the Iranian people can’t defeat the Islamic regime. He stated that only American intervention could protect ordinary Iranians, saying that "America attacking Iran is the only hope we have right now. We can't fight this regime alone. Our people need foreign intervention."

The video, recorded in English, also included appeals for foreign intervention, criticism of Iran’s religious establishment and expressions of support for exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, calling him "the best choice to make a transitional government". He mentioned that there were several opposition groups outside Iran and asked them to "come together and stop fighting each other."

He stated that the Iranians were in a moment of despair and that the US attack against Iran was their last hope. He said, "You don't know how hopeless our people are right now. I mean, I myself, I can't eat. I can't sleep," and that, "I can't even cry about it because it's so laughable to be born in a place like this, to have no future. But I hoped the people of my country would finally have a future after all this."

Hamidi described his message as an attempt to give meaning to his life and said he hoped Iranians would support one another. At the end of the recording, he switched to Persian, saying, "We people of Iran are lonely people and have nobody, so please support each other. Long live Iran." According to Iran International, he took his own life shortly after, although this has not been independently verified.

This comes as the regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seems to have successfully quelled the widespread protests that erupted across Iran through a violent crackdown that resulted in thousands of casualties, with a report by Reuters estimating at least 5000 deaths.