Remember Their Names
By now, it is apparent the protests in Iran are about far more than Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody.
Increasingly—and appallingly—the protests are accumulating more names, and more catalysts and inspirations for protest. Many of the new names are children killed by Iran’s security forces during various protests.
At least 58 children, some reportedly as young as eight, have been killed in Iran since anti-regime protests broke out in the country two months ago.
According to Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), 45 boys and 12 girls under 18 have been killed since the protests began on 16 September, sparked by the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody.
Even as the Iranian government denies responsibility for these deaths, citing in many cases anonymous “terrorists”, the reporting on the ground continues to be that Iranian security services are opening fire on people and crowds, killing people almost indiscriminately.
Speaking at Kian’s funeral on Friday, his family said security services had opened fire on the family car, where Kian was sitting next to his father. Iranian security services have denied responsibility for his death, blaming the shooting on “terrorists”.
In a grim repetition of Mahsa Amini’s death, a number of children have turned up dead after being taken into custody by the police.
According to the human rights group Hengaw, 12 children have died in the Kurdistan province since the beginning of the protests – and three died in the custody of Iranian special forces. An additional 200 Kurdish teenagers have been arrested and 300 injured after being fired on by government forces.
Iran’s government is effectively waging war against Iran’s children. And the Iranian people are not accepting this in abject submission.
The Iranian people are not going to soon forget these tragic child martyrs. The world should not either.
These are but a few of the children who have died during Iran’s suppression of public protests.
Kian Pirfalak, Age 9
Kumar Daroftadeh, Age unknown
Mohammad Eghbal, Age 17
Abolfazl Adinehzadeh, Age 17
Sarina Esmailzadeh, Age 16
Nika Shakamari, Age 17
Asra Panahi, Age 16
Say their names, and remember their names.
Their lives are the price the Islamic Republic is willing to pay to hold on to power in Iran.