NEWS CENTER - The identities of 17 people who lost their lives in a week of protests sparked by the economic crisis in Iran have been confirmed. 

 

Protests that began on 28 December 2025 in Tehran's Grand Bazaar by shopkeepers over the rial's high exchange rate losses and economic problems spread to many cities across the country. 

 

On the eighth day of the protests, as people in many Iranian cities continued their resistance in the streets with anti-regime slogans, the identities of 17 people who lost their lives were confirmed and announced. It was also noted that 132 people whose identities had been confirmed were in custody.

 

A report published by the Hengaw Human Rights Organisation on 3 January stated that 132 people had been detained. Among those detained were 45 Kurds and 23 Lurs, including at least four women and six children. With these 77 arrests made in the last six days, the total number of people detained in the recent period whose identities have been confirmed by Hengaw has risen to 132.

 

It is noted that the number of those who lost their lives in the protests is much higher. 

 

In another report released by Hengaw tonight, the identities of 17 people who lost their lives in the first week of the protests were revealed. The Hengaw report noted that those who lost their lives were from Malekshahi, Hamedan, Harsin, Nurabad (Delfan), Kuhdasht, Azna, Lordegan, Fuladshahr and Marvdasht, as well as the provinces of Kermanshah (Kermashan), Loristan, Hamedan, Fars, Ilam, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, and Isfahan. 

 

It was also stated that at least six more people, whose identities have not yet been confirmed, lost their lives and are being investigated by the organisation. The report stated that Iranian media announced that two 17-year-olds were killed and that Hengaw is still investigating the identities of the two individuals in question. 

 

The report noted that among the 17 people who lost their lives were 17 Lor Kurds, one member of the Yarsan religious minority, and one person of Persian origin in Hamedan. 

 

The report listed the identities of the individuals identified, along with their dates of birth:

 

"DECEMBER 31

 

*Dariush Ansari Bakhtiarvand, a 28-year-old Lor man from Fooladshahr, Isfahan Province, was killed by live ammunition during protests. Sources say he was shot with a Kalashnikov and died before being transferred to medical facilities.

 

*Amirhesam Khodayarifard, a 22-year-old man from Kuhdasht, Lorestan Province, was shot at close range in the head with live ammunition during protests and killed. After his death, state institutions allegedly attempted to portray him as a member of the Basij through media narratives. He was a follower of the Yarsan faith.

 

JANUARY 1 

 

*Mansour Mokhtari, a Lor man from Marvdasht, Fars Province, was shot directly from the front by Iranian state forces and killed outside Police Station No. 11 during protests following the killing of Khodadad Shirvani. Sources say a Kalashnikov round struck his abdomen.

 

*Ahmadreza Amani, a 28-year-old Lor man from Azna, Lorestan Province, a law graduate of Yazd University and a legal trainee, was shot in the chest during protests and later died from bleeding after being transferred to hospital.

 

*Ahad Ebrahimpour Abdoli, an unmarried man, approximately 35 years old, from the village of Hasan Gaviyar Mirbeg in Delfan (Nurabad), Lorestan Province, was killed after being shot three times by Iranian state forces in Bahesht Square. Witnesses said he was targeted while trying to help a woman being detained, and one bullet struck his heart.

 

*Khodadad Shirvani, a 33-year-old Lor man, father of two, from Marvdasht, Fars Province, was shot at close range with a pellet gun during protests and later died after being transferred to medical facilities.

 

*Mostafa Fallahi, a 15-year-old Lor child from Azna, Lorestan Province, was killed by direct gunfire during protests on Thursday evening.

 

*Shayan Asadollahi, a 30-year-old Lor man from Azna, Lorestan Province, was killed by direct gunfire during the same protests.

 

*Vahab Mousavi, a Lor man from Azna, Lorestan Province, was shot and killed during protests on Thursday evening.

 

*Ahmad Jalil, a 21-year-old Lor man from Lordegan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, was shot directly by Iranian state forces and killed among protesters in the city.

 

*Sajjad Valamanesh, a 20-year-old Bakhtiari Lor man from Lordegan, was killed by direct gunfire during protests in the city. He was not a member of the Basij or any government institution. After his death, security agencies allegedly pressured and threatened his family. His funeral was held on Friday, January 2, 2026.

 

JANUARY 2 

 

*Amirhossein Bayati, a married man from Hamedan, was shot with live ammunition by Iranian state forces during protests in the city and died. His body was transferred to Besat Hospital in Hamedan. Authorities have reportedly refused to release his body to his family and pressured them to present him as a member of the Basij.

 

*Ali Azizi Jafarabadi, a 42-year-old Kurdish man from the village of Jafarabad-e Hezarkhani, and a resident of Harsin in Kermanshah (Kermashan) Province, was killed by direct gunfire during protests. He was married and a father.

 

JANUARY 3 

 

*Mehdi Emamipour, a Kurdish man from Malekshahi, Ilam Province, was shot directly by The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces during protests in the county. He later died from severe injuries after being transferred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam.

 

*Farez Aghamohammadi, a Kurdish man from Malekshahi, Ilam Province, was killed by direct gunfire of IRGC forces during the same protests.

 

*Reza Azimzadeh, a resident of Malekshahi, was shot and killed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards during protests in the county.

Mohammad Moghaddasi, known as “Bozuneh”, a Kurdish man from Malekshahi, Ilam Province, was killed by IRGC forces during protests."