Sources who spoke to Iran International requested anonymity, fearing reprisals from authorities for speaking to the media.
Hessam Khodayarifard was shot dead in the western Iranian city of Kuhdasht on the evening of New Year's eve.
The 22-year-old was killed on Wednesday night, December 31, 2025, during a crackdown on protests, two family sources told Iran International.
The claim was later publicly rejected by Hessam’s father, who spoke at his son’s funeral after the body was eventually returned.
Confrontations erupted as security personnel moved in, turning the funeral into another site of repression where grief and anger were met with force.
On New Year’s Day, gunfire cut through the night in Azna in Iran’s western Lorestan province, where Shayan Asadollahi was shot dead.
A relative told Iran International that Shayan was killed as he and a group of other protesters were returning home from a demonstration. »