Protesters at a young man’s funeral his family says he was killed by Iranian security forces chanted anti-regime slogans and mocked the official announcement of his death.
Hundreds of funerals were held in the southwestern city of Izeh Iran For Kian Pirfalak’s funeral, according to footage posted online.
His mother said at the funeral that Kian was shot by security forces on Wednesday, although Iranian officials insist he was killed in a “terrorist” attack by an extremist group.
“Hear from me how the shooting happened, so they can’t say it was done by terrorists because they are lying,” his mother told mourners. Twitter account of 1500 image activists🇧🇷 “Maybe they thought we wanted to shoot or something else and peppered the car with bullets… People in civilian clothes shot my child. That’s it.”
Protesters mocking the official version of the events chanted “Basic, Sepah, you are our ISIS!” they shouted slogans. This is stated in a video released by the Norwegian-based Iranian Human Rights Organization (IHR). Basij is a pro-government paramilitary force, and Sepah is another name for Iran’s dreaded Revolutionary Guards. ISIS is an alternative name for the extremist Islamic State group.
In another video posted by 1500tasvir, they shouted “Death to Khamenei”, referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Activists put Kia’s age at nine or 10 when she died.
Opposition media outside Iran reported that another child, 14-year-old Sepehr Maqsudi, was shot dead in similar circumstances in Izeh on Wednesday.
In the movement that started after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the moral police of Tehran on September 16, funeral ceremonies have repeatedly become the hot spot of protests.
Iranian state television said seven people, including a nine-year-old child, had been buried, saying they had been killed by “terrorists” on motorcycles.
The Guard-affiliated Fars news agency quoted Sadegh Khalilian, the governor of Khuzestan province, as saying that “foreign elements” were responsible.
“Kian Pirfalak, nine, and Sepehr Maghsoudi, 14, are among at least 56 children killed by Iranian forces trying to suppress Iran’s 2022 Revolution,” said Hadi Qaemi, director of the New York-based Iran Center for Human Rights.
IHR also said that anti-regime slogans were chanted at the funeral of Aylar Hagin, a young medical student who was killed by falling from a building blamed on the security forces in the north of Tabriz.
In a separate development, videos showing the burning of an ancestor of the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, were widely shared on social media and activists said it was set on fire by protesters.
Reuters confirmed the location of the two video clips using different arches and buildings that match the file images. The semi-official Tasnim news agency denied that Khomeini’s house was set on fire and said that a small number of people had gathered in front of the house.
In videos circulating on social media, dozens of people can be seen cheering as the building burst into flames. Reuters could not independently verify the dates the videos were taken. 1500Tasvir reported that the incident took place on Thursday evening in the city of Khomeini, where Khomeini was born, south of the capital Tehran. The house was turned into a museum.
Tasnim news agency said, “This news is a lie” and added: “The doors of the house of the late founder of the Great Revolution are open to the public.”
