The Conflict Over Memorials for Victims of Iran Protest Crackdown

The focus of the Iranian government is on suppressing commemorations marking the first anniversaries of the deaths of victims of its brutal crackdown on nationwide demonstrations. 

However, despite facing arrest and other means of pressure, the victims’ families find ways to maintain the memories of the hundreds of people killed by security forces during protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody.

On November 9, the family of a nine-year-old boy, Kian Pirfalak, commemorated the first anniversary of his killing a week earlier than planned after coming under intense pressure from the authorities.

Women were clad in black, including Mahmonir Molaei-Rad, the boy’s grieving mother.

Kian became a symbol of the bloody crackdown on protesters after he lost his life in Izeh when government forces opened fire on his family’s car on November 16, 2022.

Amini’s family planned to hold a "religious and spiritual" ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of her death on September 16.

However, on the morning of that day, Amjad Amini, her father, was put under house arrest. 

Her uncle had been arrested weeks earlier. 

Nika Shakrami was a 17-year-old girl who was found dead days after she courageously set fire to her headscarf during protests in Tehran. 

On November 11, her aunt Atesh Shakrami took to Instagram to comment on the early commemoration of the first anniversary of Kian’s death: "Mahmonir knew that if she had announced the anniversary on the scheduled date, authorities would have confined her to house arrest. If she dared to leave, they would have arrested her. Any action by her supporters would have led to hostage-taking until the announcement of the cancellation of the anniversary. All main routes to the cemetery would have been closed.”

The family of Yalda Aghafazli, a teenage girl who died under suspicious circumstances shortly after her release from Qarchak prison, has faced intense pressure in recent weeks. 

Despite her father and uncle announcing the cancellation of the commemoration ceremony on the anniversary of her death, the event proceeded as planned.

The family of Mehrshad Shahidi, a young man who lost his life during protests in Arak, also faced pressure and harassment. 

On November 2, his father Amir announced that the man’s birthday and the one-year anniversary of his death would be celebrated on the same day due to "certain restrictions." 

In a poignant video, family members can be seen crying intensely while cutting the birthday cake. They are unable to stand straight or look at the camera.

The security agencies of the Islamic Republic fear that if the victims’ families who are calling for justice gain trust and become influential among Iranian society, it could lead to future protests.

"After every disaster, murder, massacre and repression, the Islamic Republic attempts to control the narrative" to shape public perception and deny its own responsibility, religious scholar and journalist Mohammed Javad Akbarin tells IranWire.