The Last Words of Foad Shams: A Tragedy of Hope Lost in Iran
The death of Foad Shams, a 40-year-old Iranian journalist, political analyst, and social activist, has drawn widespread sadness and reflection across Iran’s public sphere.
The death of Foad Shams, a 40-year-old Iranian journalist, political analyst, and social activist, has drawn widespread sadness and reflection across Iran’s public sphere. His suicide in November 2025 has become a stark reminder of the growing despair among Iranians who have long struggled against systemic barriers, political exclusion, and social pressure.
In the early hours of November 11, Shams posted what would become his final message on social media:
“On the threshold of my fortieth year, I must let go.
I have released the last of my ties.
I hope this final skin of life releases me too.
Perhaps everything ends with forty.”
Hours later, the news of his death spread across Persian-language platforms. Friends and colleagues confirmed that he had ended his life, prompting a wave of shock and sorrow. For many who knew his work, the message felt like a quiet farewell — the voice of someone who had reached the limits of endurance.
Foad Shams was an Iranian journalist, political analyst, and social activist known for his leftist ideology and outspoken criticism of the Iranian government. He began his activism during his university years, participating in social and political movements and playing an active role in the 2009 presidential election. Due to his political activities and leftist beliefs, Shams was arrested multiple times and was barred from completing his studies. On social media, especially Twitter, he described himself as a PhD student in Geography and Rural Planning at Tarbiat Modares University. Throughout his career, he wrote for several publications, including Ham-Mihan newspaper, and was recognized as a bold, independent voice in Iran’s intellectual and political circles.
Shams had lived through years of professional and personal hardship. Born in the early 1980s, he earned a master’s degree in Geography and Urban Planning from the University of Tehran. Despite strong academic performance, his studies were repeatedly disrupted by political restrictions. He was expelled from university once for his activism, later barred from continuing his graduate studies even after ranking among the top three students in his class, and prevented from enrolling in a Ph.D. program after being summoned by security agencies.
Professionally, he spent nearly seven years working on contract with the Karaj Municipality, but was eventually informed by the municipal selection committee that he “lacked general eligibility” to continue. That notice, coming only weeks before his death, deeply affected him. In one of his final notes, Shams wrote, “The system only wants obedient yes-men. Honest, competent, patriotic people are eliminated. I have fought this for twenty years — and I am exhausted.”
His father, a war veteran who served thirteen months at the front, had recently passed away. The added weight of financial stress and family responsibility worsened his situation. “My father never used his veteran privileges,” he wrote. “I thought I could use the conversion law for veterans’ children, but instead, they punished me for my name.”
In Iran, there are laws that grant special benefits to those who fought in the Iran–Iraq War and to their children. Foad believed that since his father had never used any of those benefits, he could use the provision to change his own employment status from temporary (contract-based) to permanent. It was a hope he never lived to see fulfilled.
In his last public words, Shams expressed a quiet resignation:
“The problem is not people — it’s the system. The system is designed only for obedience.
I’m not an important person, but I’ve lost hope completely.
I surrender myself to God, the same God whose verse gave me my name:
‘The heart did not lie about what it saw.’”
His passing was confirmed by colleagues and later reported by Shargh Daily and other Iranian media. Friends and peers described him as a thoughtful and principled man, deeply committed to justice and to his country, even when he disagreed with its rulers. Writer Mohammad-Javad Ruh called him “a national leftist who believed in realism, not slogans.” Shams had supported Masoud Pezeshkian in the 2024 presidential election, viewing dialogue and reform — however limited — as the only remaining way forward.
His death has renewed discussions about mental health, political repression, and the loss of hope among educated Iranians. Many writers called his suicide a reflection of a generation’s frustration. One post read: “He fought for years to live decently in a country that made that impossible. When every door closed, he left without anger — only exhaustion.”
Although there has been no official government response, religious and civic figures have expressed sorrow and urged others not to follow the same path. Some have noted that the environment that drives individuals to hopelessness is itself a collective responsibility. A journalist commented, “He didn’t die because he was fragile; he died because honesty and independence come at too high a price in this system.”
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) extends its deepest condolences to Foad Shams’s family, friends, and colleagues. NIAC views his passing as a heartbreaking loss for those who believe in integrity, truth, and a better future for Iran. His story reflects the struggles of countless Iranians who strive to serve their country yet face walls of censorship, discrimination, and exclusion. NIAC stands in solidarity with all those mourning his loss and emphasizes that empathy, dialogue, and meaningful reform are essential to prevent such tragedies in the future.