Adel Kianpour was born on August 16, 1984, in Razi Hospital in Ahvaz. He was originally from Masjed Soleyman and a member of the Bakhtiari Lori Raki tribe. His parents were Ghaisar and Pari (also known as Farideh). He had two sisters, Azar and Azita, and a brother, Amin. While his sisters lived in Tehran, Adel, Amin, and their mother resided in Ahvaz. His father, a contractor for the oil company, passed away in 1997 due to heart complications after bypass surgery. Adel was married but had no children. He owned a mobile phone shop and had previously worked for the oil company. More recently, he was employed as an industrial electrical control engineer at a pipe rolling company.
Adel had been a member of the Kurdistan Freedom Party for one year. He went to Iraq after two innocent Kurds were executed. After realizing he had been deceived, he fled the group and surrendered to border guards in October 2019 upon re-entering Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. He was immediately arrested and transferred to Piranshahr intelligence, where he was interrogated on charges of membership in opposition groups. He was later acquitted, released, and paid a fine before returning to Ahvaz. He worked at the pipe rolling company for six months.
On May 2, 2020, as Adel returned home from work in the evening, Ahvaz intelligence agents ambushed him, raided his home, and arrested him. He was subjected to severe torture for two months to extract forced confessions. His family remained unaware of his whereabouts for four months until he was able to call them from intelligence detention. He was denied visits for five months. The accusations against him included propaganda against the system, propaganda for opposition groups, disturbing public opinion with the intent to disrupt national security, and carrying and possessing two military weapons. Following interrogations, he was sentenced to three years in prison and transferred to Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz. His wife divorced him after his imprisonment. During his interrogation, he was denied legal representation, so a human rights lawyer named “Dr. Dadkhah” in Tehran wrote defense briefs, which his family brought to him in prison. Adel undertook several hunger strikes, but they were ignored, and he was given empty promises. From prison, he sent a video message to Eje'i, stating, “Didn't you say you would help anyone outside the country return to life? Did you mean life in prison? We will neither forget nor forgive such behavior.”
After five months, bail was set at 2.25 billion Toman for his temporary release. His mother went to the Revolutionary Court to post bail, but when she tried to get a copy of the deed from a kiosk near the courthouse, security agents quickly surrounded her, preventing her from seeing the judge. Adel was then taken from prison to court and informed that his mother was not permitted to post bail. Subsequently, he contracted COVID-19 in prison. His mother suffered a stroke due to the immense psychological pressure of witnessing his prison conditions, losing her vocal cords. Despite her poor physical state, making it difficult to speak, she released a video on social media on October 3, 2021. In the video, she declared the accusations against him baseless, stated that he had been imprisoned in Sheiban Prison for 14 months, and revealed that during her last visit on October 2, 2021, she learned he had contracted COVID-19 and was in a critical, life-threatening condition due to lack of medical care. His mother's direct appeal to Khamenei for help was ineffective.
On December 25, 2021, Adel announced, “I, Adel Kianpour, a political prisoner, in line with the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the face of the oppression ruling over us in the name of the country and nation, in the path of justice and democracy, officially begin my hunger strike on December 25, 2021, in Ahvaz Central Prison, and I declare this to all people and human rights organizations.” However, prison authorities ignored his physical condition for a week. While he was on hunger strike, his mother repeatedly messaged Narges Mohammadi for help, but received no reply. On January 1, 2022, Adel's condition worsened. He went to the infirmary, asking for an IV, but was told they had none due to “sanctions.” He received an injection, but shortly after returning to his ward, he felt unwell, experienced nausea, collapsed, and passed away.
After his death, intelligence agents did not inform his family, but a cellmate notified them from prison. Agents misled his family, sending them to Khomeini and Abuzar hospitals without revealing the location of his body. His sister pleaded with a soldier, who, out of compassion, revealed that intelligence agents had taken the body out through a back door. The body was not released for three days. Finally, his family was threatened: the body would only be released if they remained silent and conducted a quiet burial. Adel Kianpour's lifeless body was laid to rest on January 3, 2022, in the family cemetery in Bahram Abad village, near Masjed Soleyman, amidst a heavy presence of security forces. Security personnel filmed attendees, which led to clashes. The third and seventh-day ceremonies were held simultaneously. The first anniversary of his death, on December 29, 2022, coincided with the fortieth-day ceremony of his sister Azita, held at their family cemetery in Bahram Abad, Masjed Soleyman. His mother endured the grief of losing three of her children to the government's oppression.