Mother of Nine-Year-Old Iran Crackdown Victim Says Officials Are “Lying”

November 18, 2022

2 min read

Kian’s mother told the ceremony that he was shot by security forces on November 16, contradiction the official version of events alleging that a “terrorist” group was behind the attack

Hundreds of Iranians have flocked to the funeral of Kian Pirfalak, a nine-year-old boy killed during protests in the southwestern Iranian city of Izeh.

Kian’s mother told the ceremony that he was shot by security forces on November 16, contradiction the official version of events alleging that a “terrorist” group was behind the attack.

“Hear from me how the shooting happened, so they can’t say it was done by terrorists, because they’re lying,” the mother said, adding: “Plainclothes forces shot my child. That is it.”

According to a video posted on social media, the mourners chanted: “Basij, Sepah -- you are our ISIS,” in reference to the Basij paramilitary force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Sunni extremist group Islamic State.

A member of Kian's family has told IranWire that the child was shot while he and his father were returning home in a car. The vehicle was hit by seven bullets shot from four sides.

Iran has been gripped by protests since the September death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, in the custody of Tehran’s morality police.

The protest movement has grown to become one of the biggest threats to the clerical regime since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The unrest triggered a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces in which more than 340 people were killed, including dozens of children. Thousands of people have also been arrested. Five people have so far been sentenced to death over the protests.

On November 18, footage obtained by IranWire showed a funeral held for Aylar Haghi, another victim of the state crackdown on protests, in the northwestern city of Tabriz.

Hundreds of people participated in the ceremony, chanting slogans against the clerical regime.

Video clips showed riot police attacking the crowd while it was trying to enter Wadi Rahmat cemetery in Tabriz.

Funeral were also held in Semirom, Qazvin, Saqqez and other Iranian cities and towns, with protesters chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic.