Killing of Kian Pirfalak

Kian Pirfalak, a nine-year-old Iranian boy, was killed on 16 November 2022 in the city of Izeh during a crackdown on protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini. According to his family and witnesses, government security forces opened fire on the market in Izeh, and Kian was struck while sitting in his parents' vehicle. His father, Meysam Pirfalak, was also critically injured in the attack and was hospitalized. Kian was one of seven people who died in the attack, including two teenagers, Artin Rahmani and Sepehr Maghsoodi, the latter of whom was shot in the head.

Kian's mother, Zeinab Moulai (also transliterated as Molaie), and other relatives who witnessed the shooting have attributed his death to Iranian security forces, stating that a bullet passed through his lung. This account directly contradicts the initial narrative pushed by Iranian state media. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Fars News Agency, and other outlets initially claimed the killings were carried out by ISIS terrorists, circulating a statement purportedly issued by the group claiming responsibility. An investigation by BBC Monitoring concluded that this statement was fabricated. Iranian authorities subsequently attributed the deaths to four named individuals — Bahman Bahmani, Hossein Saeedi, Mahmoud Ahmadi, and Abbas Mujahed Kurkur. Two of the four were reported killed in an operation by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces. Kurkur was reportedly tortured in custody, and in 2023 the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran sentenced him to death based on a confession obtained under those circumstances.

Kian's funeral drew hundreds of mourners who chanted anti-government slogans. Fearing that security forces might seize his body, as has reportedly occurred in other cases, his family kept his body on ice rather than leaving it at a morgue. At the funeral, his mother publicly rejected the official narrative and criticized Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei through a poem recited to mourners.

Kian's death intensified nationwide protests and drew international attention. Following his funeral, the childhood home of Ruhollah Khomeini — used as a commemorative museum in the city of Khomeyn — was set on fire on 17 November 2022. Demonstrators at the University of Tehran displayed his photograph during protests. UNICEF issued a statement condemning the deaths and detentions of children amid the unrest. A previously circulated video of Kian testing a homemade boat, in which he references a phrase from a well-known Persian schoolbook poem about "the God of rainbows," became a widely shared memorial symbol.

On 11 June 2023, during a memorial service at Kian's burial site in the village of Parchestan, Izeh, a relative of his mother, Pouya Molaeirad, was shot and killed by Iranian security agents. Iranian officials claimed Molaeirad was an attacker killed in self-defense, an account disputed by his family and by social media users who shared eyewitness footage.