Director: Hamidreza Lavafi
Cast: Arash Majidi, Alireza Ara, Reza Davodnejad, Milad Mirzaiy, Mahdokht Molaiy
Shahbaz is a 2023 Iranian crime-mystery series directed by Hamidreza Lavafi, centered on a gifted computer-science student whose private investigation into her best friend's suspicious death pulls her into the hidden corridors of a dangerous dark-web criminal network — while a veteran cybersecurity team works the same case from the other side.
What is Shahbaz about?
Najwa is an exceptional computer-science student with a vast, carefully cultivated network of online contacts. When her closest friend dies in what is officially ruled an accident, Najwa refuses to accept the verdict. Her technical instincts and digital reach lead her to believe the death connects directly to a covert sabotage network operating under the codename Arghavan — an organization whose reach into the dark web runs deep. Independently and in secret, Najwa begins probing Arghavan's infrastructure, looking for any evidence that could expose the truth. Simultaneously, a specialized cybersecurity unit has been pursuing the same network for years. Their operation — code-named Shahbaz — is led by an elite agent named Hosam, and it has stalled repeatedly at the question of who actually runs Arghavan at its core. As Najwa's solo investigation and the official unit's mission begin to converge, both the stakes and the dangers multiply.
Cast & crew
Hamidreza Lavafi directs a cast that anchors the series across its two parallel storylines. Arash Majidi and Alireza Ara head the ensemble on the investigative side, with Reza Davodnejad, Milad Mirzaiy, Mahdokht Molaiy, Nima Naderii, and Siros Hemati rounding out the principal players across both the civilian and security-unit threads.
Context & significance
Iranian crime-thriller series have grown considerably more technically ambitious over the past decade, and Shahbaz slots into a newer wave that trades on cyber-investigative plots rather than street-level procedural drama. For diaspora viewers familiar with Persian storytelling traditions, the series offers the familiar emotional core — loyalty, grief, justice — reframed through surveillance culture, dark-web paranoia, and institutional secrecy. The dual-protagonist structure, which keeps a young civilian and a seasoned state operative on parallel tracks toward the same hidden enemy, is well-suited to serialized streaming. Each 42-minute episode moves the dual timeline forward without resolving the central mystery early, a pacing style that mirrors prestige international crime television while keeping the cultural register distinctly Iranian.
Where & how to watch
Shahbaz is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Stream it on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, no extra download required. Subscribe and cancel anytime.