In a 15-minute informal video on his YouTube, Toomaj speaks from the heart, thanking his supporters and responding to pro-regime slanders. To make this accessible to English-speakers supporters, IEC volunteers have excerpted key sections below and translated to English. The full version is available at the link at the end of the excerpt.

Hello, my friends, greetings with hope that all is well. Today is November 27, 2023…

First and foremost, I want to thank you because of your spirit of being supportive, not just of me but of whomever needed support. You did not deny them in this process and showed your unity, solidarity, such that I had never experienced in the past, because you did not get tired… You did not forget those who are still in prison…

Even when I was in captivity at the security section, where it is almost impossible to talk to your relatives, because visits are very short and the guards are right next to you, where you cannot talk about whatever you want to talk about, even there a little news of the support you are giving to me and others was very, very welcoming and heartening news, and was giving us a new energy. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to endure these psychological injuries …

First you saved my life, and in the previous arrest you saved me, this is the third time that you rescued me. On social media they call me a hero, but the hero is all of you who saved me and us, I have never rescued anyone.

Now that they could not hold me in prison, as in previous times they try to destroy my reputation through some accusations…that I have confessed and betrayed others. First and foremost, what is there to confess, whatever I have done is in…broadcasting my songs and words, there has been nothing there to hide. I did not come out with a rap [song] to accommodate them; none of the people who have helped me with the production of my raps have been arrested or had to endure hardship, whether the producer, musicians, distributors and promoters.

I have been tortured through my arrest, they broke my hands and leg. They were hitting my face and my head and in the process of protecting my head with my hands they broke my fingers… Some of the political prisoners told me what they injected to your neck was adrenaline to keep you conscious in order to feel the pain to its extreme, and even more, rather than becoming numb or losing consciousness, and not feeling the pain.

And about confession? I didn't even give them access to my post/page… The last day [before his release] they took me to Mr. Barati for 4 or 5 hours… he was the one in charge, who ordered to apply torture to me. He wanted me to give them my page [i.e., access to Toomaj’s social media platforms]. I told them I would rather stay in jail than give you control of my page.

Oh, yeah, there are some who are concerned or suspicious that I am healthy, but if I was released 4 or 5 months after my arrest, they would not have said these things for sure.  They would have witnessed these broken bones of mine, now more than a year old and naturally most of those bones have healed even though some are not healed properly. There is not much pain but after walking for a while it becomes painful, and my hands when I exercise are painful… in order to continue my sport, boxing, I need to do some surgery on my leg and my hands…

I wanted to say something about a montage video of me that is being distributed and was [created] by security apparatus… In the 9 hours that they were interviewing me [they spliced out] something like a question they asked that if it was someone's mother to whom you caused problems for their kids, or he is in prison because of you, what do you have to say? Most likely I would have said I apologize for their pain that I caused, but they have pretended that and made it [appear] that I am apologizing for what I have done to them, the state…

[In] their media they have spread lies about me. That Toomaj was sentenced to death but because he has cooperated effectively, his execution has been reduced to 6 years.What have I done that warranted execution? All we have done in that time was standing up against those who were shooting at people with Winchesters, and torturing people in universities…

I am indebted to you all, and when the time comes, I will be in control of my page, and be active. But for now, I want to build myself up [i.e., his strength], and think I need that, and I hope you give me that time, and space to do that.

Thanks again.

The full transcript translation is available here.