In Iran, 9-year-old shot dead amid protests; death toll reaches 381 including 57 minors

Chants of angry Iranian protestors demanding the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader were heard on Friday, at the funeral of a 9-year-old Iranian boy who was shot during a protest in the country earlier this week. The protest which has taken over the country has witnessed many deaths, including minors.

Citing reports by human rights groups, the Wall Street Journal reported that of the 381 protestors who have been killed in the protest, at least 57 have been minors. The nationwide protest, which has taken the whole country by storm for two months, has been escalating since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who died in police detention after allegedly not following “Iran’s strict Islamic dress code.” The case was followed by anti-hijab protests in Iran along with demands for the end of Islamic governance. 

On Wednesday, 9 year-old-boy, Kian Pirfalak from the Sothwern region of Iran lost his life along with seven other people during a protest in Izeh. The state official asserted that “two gunmen on motorbikes” were behind the attack, calling it a “terrorist attack”. The authorities held a separate funeral for those who lost their lives.

The mother of the 9-year-old boy blames the authorities

Addressing a hundred mourners who were gathered at Kian’s funeral, his mother said, “Hear my words about what happened,” adding, “Don’t say they were terrorists, they are lying.” She said her husband was also hurt in the shooting and claimed that it was the “police not gunmen on motorcycles, who killed her son.” At the funeral mourners chanted, “death to Khamenei” who is unpopular in the Khuzestan Province where the Sunni minorities are subjected to atrocities by the Shia Persian majority. The mourners also lashed out at the paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

Kian was not the only minor who lost his life at the Izeh Protest. Citing the reports by the Free Union of Iranian workers, the Wall Street Journal reported that a 14-year-old child also fell victim to the Wednesday attack. While the brutal crackdown on anti-hijab protests by the Iranian administration has received condemnation from all around the world, the protestors have also started taking a violent route in the protests. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, that Iranian protestors have set fire to the old family home of the former supreme leader and the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

US extends condolences

Expressing his condolences to Kian’s family, The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan took to Twitter on Saturday and wrote, “My thoughts are with Kian’s family. At only 9 years old, Kian was killed after Iranian security forces sprayed his family car with bullets. We will continue to pursue accountability for the senseless death of Kian and so many other courageous Iranians. #KianPirfalak #MahsaAmini”. The UNICEF called the deaths of minors, “terrifying” urging that “it must stop.”