He has been detained several times for defending teachers' rights and participating in rally protests of teachers and was imprisoned from 2009 to 2011 in Mashhad's notorious Vakilabad Prison.[2]
In a letter he said that "the root of the corruption and all the problems, was Ali Khamenei" the Supreme Leader of Iran, and that he had to be held accountable.[2]
Khastar had previously been detained in Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad. Despite being threatened by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on several occasion he had refused to cease his activities.[3]
On October 23, 2018, he disappeared in the city of Mashhad, and was being detained by the Islamic Republic's Intelligence Ministry at a psychiatric hospital, his wife disclosed in an interview.[4][3] Hashem Khastar was released a few hours after being taken into custody on Monday, November 5, 2018.[5]
