Kian Pirfalak (; 11 June 2013 – 16 November 2022) was an Iranian nine-year-old boy who was killed in

Izeh Izeh () ( Luri : مالمیر) is a city in the Central District of Izeh County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Izeh has mines of rocks and minerals. It is famous for its dam and ancient ...

during the crackdown on the

Mahsa Amini protests Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...

. He was shot by government security forces while sitting in his parents' vehicle during the attack on Izeh market. His father, Meysam Pirfalak, was critically injured in the assault and was hospitalized. Pirfalak's mother and other family members who witnessed the incident blame the attack on Iranian security forces.

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

news agencies, including

IRNA The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA; , ''Xabargozâri-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi'' or ), is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Founded in November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the time of Reza Shah, it is State media, g ...

, initially blamed Pirfalak's death on

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

terrorists, circulating a statement attributed to the group claiming responsibility for the shooting.

BBC Monitoring BBC Monitoring (BBCM) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation which monitors, and reports on, mass media worldwide using open-source intelligence. Based at New Broadcasting House, the BBC's headquarters in central London, it has o ...

, however, investigated the statement and concluded that it was fake. Pirfalak's death sparked nationwide outrage against the government and its use of extreme lethal force against protestors. He is thought to be the youngest victim of the government suppression of protests in the wake of the

death of Mahsa Amini On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the Islamic religious police, religious morality police of ...

. In 2023, the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran issued a death sentence for Abbas Mujahed Kurkur after he was tortured in prison and they obtained a forced confession.

Incident

On 16 November 2022, during the crackdown on the

in the city of

, there was an armed attack on Izeh the market by government security forces. Nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak, who was sitting in his parents' vehicle, was shot by government security forces during the attack. His father, Meysam Pirfalak, was also critically injured in the assault and was hospitalized. Kian Pirfalak was among the seven people who died during the attack, as were two teenagers, Artin Rahmani and Sepehr Maghsoodi (who was shot in the head).

Attribution of blame

Pirfalak's mother and other family members who witnessed the incident blame the attack on Iranian security forces. A relative of Pirfalak told

Radio Farda Radio Farda () is the Iranian branch of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) external broadcast service for providing "factual, objective and professional journalism" to its audiences. It broadcasts 24 hours a day ...

that security agents had opened fire on the car where Pirfalak was sitting. A bullet had gone through Pirfalak's lung. His father was also seriously injured and was later hospitalized. His mother, Zeinab Moulai denies the government's account of events, and said her son was killed by security forces. The

Islamic Republic News Agency The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA; , ''Xabargozâri-ye Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi'' or ), is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Founded in November 1934 as Pars News Agency during the time of Reza Shah, it is government-fu ...

(IRNA),

Fars News Agency The Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the three branches of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency" ...

and other Iranian news outlets initially attributed the killings to

terrorists rather than the state's security forces. They circulated a statement purportedly from the terrorist group claiming responsibility for the shooting. An investigation by

concluded that the statement was fake. Iranian authorities then attributed the deaths of Pirfalak and others to four men: Bahman Bahmani, Hossein Saeedi, Mahmoud Ahmadi, and Abbas Mujahed Kurkur. Two of the men were killed in an attack by IRGC forces, while Kurkur was later tortured to obtain a forced confession and was sentenced to death.

Funeral

Pirfalak's family placed his body on ice, refusing to keep it at the

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

due to the fear of security forces stealing the child's body, as that has happened in many cases. Hundreds of people gathered at Pirfalak's funeral and chanted anti-regime slogans in protest of his death. "Hear it from me about how the shooting happened so they can't say it was by terrorists, because they're lying," Pirfalak's mother Zeinab Molaie told mourners at his funeral. During the ceremony, Pirfalak's mother criticized the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader

Ali Khamenei Ali Hosseini Khamenei (; born 19 April 1939) is an Iranian cleric and politician who has served as the second supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He previously served as the third President of Iran, president from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei's tenure ...

through a poem, which read: "How's Mister Seyyed Ali hameneidoing? He has a long beard coming down to his chest! A chest full of hatred - his heart is like stone - all he says is nonsense!"

Impact

Pirfalak's death sparked an increase in nationwide protests, and international support. After Pirfalak's funeral,

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

's childhood home was set on fire on 17 November 2022; which is being used as a commemorative museum and located in the city of

Khomeyn Khomeyn () is a city in the Central District of Khomeyn County, Markazi province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. History The name of Khomein was first mentioned in a book named '' The History of Prophets and ...

. Protests at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

's Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences displayed photos of Pirfalak. Days after Pirfalak's death,

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

issued a statement condemning the death and detention of children in the wake of the 2022 protests in Iran. A viral video circulated online of young Pirfalak testing his hand-made boat, and he stated, "in the name of the God of rainbows." The stanza "In the Name of the Lord of the Rainbow" is a poem by Mahmoud Purohab () which is included in Persian 3rd grade elementary school book. As a result, many memorials about Pirfalak have referenced the God of rainbows. Pouya Molaeirad, a relative of Kian Pirfalak's mother, was shot and killed by Iranian security agents on 11 June 2023, during a memorial service for Kian. Eyewitnesses and videos shared on social media showed Molaeirad being shot at Pirfalak's burial site in the village of Parchestan, Izeh, amid a heavy security presence. Iranian officials claimed that Molaeirad was an attacker who was shot in self-defense, but his family and social media users disputed this account.

References

External links