Iranians protest against regime at boy's funeral: rights groups

Protesters in Iran on Friday chanted anti-regime slogans at the funeral of a young boy whose family says was killed by the security forces, a rights group and monitors said.

Hundreds flocked to the city of Izeh in southwestern Iran for the funeral of Kian Pirfalak, aged nine or 10 according to activists, footage posted by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and monitor 1500tasvir showed.

His mother told the funeral ceremony that Kian was shot on Wednesday by the security forces although Iranian officials have insisted he was killed in a "terrorist" attack carried out by an extremist group.

Nov. 18, Semirom, Isfahan.
The burial ceremony of Morad Bahramian who was murdered by the Islamic Republic.
“Death to Khamenei!”
“Death to the IRGC!”#WomanLifeFreedom #MahsaAminipic.twitter.com/l8Yn3hfp2f

— 1500tasvir_en (@1500tasvir_en) November 18, 2022

Nov. 18, the burial ceremony of Artin Rahmani, who was murdered by the Islamic Republic in Izeh, Khuzestan.
“Death to the Mullahs!”#MahsaAminipic.twitter.com/QTIl0gYIVS https://t.co/GxX8KI6hRU

— 1500tasvir_en (@1500tasvir_en) November 18, 2022

"Hear it from me myself on how the shooting happened, so they can't say it was by terrorists because they're lying," his mother told the funeral according to a video posted by 1500tasvir.

"Maybe they thought we wanted to shoot or something and they peppered the car with bullets... Plainclothes forces shot my child. That is it."

Ridiculing the official version of events, the protesters chanted: "Basij, Sepah - you are our ISIS!" according to a video posted by IHR, in reference to the Islamic State group.

The Basij is a pro-government paramilitary force and Sepah is another name for Iran's feared Revolutionary Guards. ISIS is an alternative name for the extremist Islamic State (IS) group.

"Death to Khamenei," they shouted in another video posted by 1500tasvir, referring to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Opposition media based outside of Iran said that another minor, Sepehr Maghsoudi, 14, was also shot dead in similar circumstances in Izeh on Wednesday.

Among the 13 people who were shot to death in Izeh, Khuzestan province yesterday:

Kian Pirfalak, 9, Sepehr Maghsoudi, 14

Sources close to their family told BBC Persian that they were killed by state security forces. #MahsaAmini #IranRevolution#اعتصابات_سراسری #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/UtrjAbuefG

— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) November 17, 2022

Funerals have repeatedly become flashpoints for protests in the movement that started after the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested by the Tehran morality police.

Iranian state television said seven people had been buried, including a nine-year-old boy, adding they had been killed by "terrorists" on motorbikes.

The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Guards, quoted the governor of Khuzestan province Sadegh Khalilian as saying that "foreign elements" were behind what had happened.

"Kian Pirfalak, nine, and Sepehr Maghsoudi, 14, are among at least 56 kids killed by Iranian forces working to crush Iran's 2022 Revolution," said Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.

IHR also said that anti-regime slogans were chanted at the funeral in the northern city of Tabriz for Aylar Haghi, a young medical student who activists say was killed in a fall from a building blamed on the security forces.