Marek Kaufmann

Marek Kaufmann

German Cyclist

Biography

Marek Kaufmann is a German Jewish bicyclist.

Arrest

On June 20, 2025, the Iranian regime-owned Mehr news agency published a heavily edited, narrated video of Kaufmann speaking after his 2024 arrest by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Iran International, Mehr claims that Kaufmann “was detained by IRGC intelligence operatives in an area marked with warning signs,” and Kaufmann states in the video that “he was aware he was near a military area and that taking photos or videos was not allowed. He adds that he sent his location to a friend.” Kaufmann also says that his smartwatch instructed him to detour. 

The narrator, Ameneh Sadat Zabihpour, says that “someone was in charge of how he navigates” and claims Kaufman was getting guidance from “American and Jewish commanders.” Zabihpour has been sanctioned by the U.S., European Union, Canada, and Australia for her role as what the U.S. Treasury Department called an “interrogator-journalist” for regime media, working together with Iran’s intelligence ministry and the IRGC Intellgence Organization to create videes of forced “confessions.”

According to Iran International, “Iranian officials accuse Kaufmann of gathering intelligence on sensitive military sites, including missile silos, drone routes, and airbases.” According to Jewish News Syndicate, “Iranian authorities allege that Kaufman, who was in Iran on a tourist visa, was caught cycling near sensitive military and nuclear sites in the central province of Markazi, the report said, likely referencing Arak [nuclear complex].” The Mehr video called Kaufmann Jewish multiple times. According to the Jerusalem Post, Iranian “investigators allege [Kaufmann] stored images of missile launchers and the Arak reactor on memory cards hidden in his bicycle frame.”

Treatment in Captivity

According to media reports, the regime is holding Kaufmann in Tehran’s infamous Evin Prison.

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