How the Family of Iran’s Most Feared Agent Ended Up in California

The legal and political ramifications of Emami’s actions and his subsequent "suicide" continue to be discussed in Iranian human rights circles. Activists argue that the failure to conduct a transparent trial for Emami allowed the state to compartmentalize the violence as the work of a few "rogue" individuals rather than addressing the structural issues within the Ministry of Intelligence. This lack of closure has turned Saeed Emami into a symbol of the "deep state" in Iran—a figure who did the dirty work of the establishment and was discarded when he became a political liability.