Mohammad Ali Ahmad-Rezaei found guilty of five counts of rape and threatening a witness

A rapist threatened to run over his victim’s eldest daughter and bragged to her ex-partner he’d killed people in Iran – and it was “easy” to do again, a court has heard.

An Iranian man bragged to the former partner of a woman he was sexually assaulting that he had killed people in Iran and it would be “easy” to do it again in Australia, a court has heard.

Mohammad Ali Ahmad-Rezaei was found guilty on Friday of five counts of rape, threatening to distribute an invasive image, threatening to cause harm and threatening a person involved in criminal proceedings.

Ahmad-Rezaei stood trial before a jury in a lengthy hearing involving days of testimony from his victim and her former husband.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Patrick Hill told the jury Ahmad-Rezaei repeatedly raped the woman between 2017 and 2020.

Convicted rapist Mohammad Ahmad Rezaei during his second police interview after threatening a witness in his criminal proceedings. Picture: Adelaide District Court.

Many of the sexual assaults took place nearby the victim’s young children.

Mr Hill said the trauma of the first assault in April 2017 was a contributing factor to the breakdown of the relationship between the victim and her partner.

Ahmad-Rezaei threatened to distribute images of the woman, coercing her into being abused again by him.

On June 18, 2020, the woman told Ahmad-Rezaei she would not allow him to continue to abuse her.

He responded by threatening to run over the victim’s eldest daughter.

Convicted rapist Mohammad Ahmad Rezaei during his first police interview after he threatened to run over a young child. Picture: Adelaide District Court.

Ahmad-Rezaei was arrested and interviewed by police. He was charged and released on bail.

A short time later, the victim’s former partner received a WhatsApp call from Iran.

He took the call and was told by the person on the other end to make sure he was near the phone in a few minutes because he would call back.

A minute later during a second call Ahmad-Rezaei’s voice came on the other end of the call.

“The accused claimed that he had killed people back in Iran and went on to say that it will be very easy to kill the man’s daughter and referred to seeing her around at the park,” Mr Hill said in his opening address to the jury.

The jury heard phone records show the WhatsApp calls were received by the partner’s phone.

Convicted rapist Mohammad Ahmad Rezaei during a police interview. Picture: SA District Court

There was no evidence Ahmad-Rezaei had directly called the husband. However, there was a 15-minute call from Ahmad-Rezaei to an Iranian number that encompassed both phone calls.

Mr Hill argued Ahmad-Rezaei had placed a call to an associate in Iran who then placed that phone next to the other device being used to call the victim’s former husband.

Ahmad-Rezaei was arrested for a second time and initially refused bail.

He was released back into the community pending his trial.

Michael Mead, for Ahmad-Rezaei, argued his client could not be guilty of the charges in part because of an injury that left him impotent.

The jury took a day to return majority guilty verdicts to all of Ahmad-Rezaei’s charges.

He showed no emotion as the verdict was read out by the foreman of the jury.

District Court Judge Liesl Kudelka revoked Ahmad-Rezaei’s bail, returning him to prison until sentencing submissions next month.