Iran International
President Masoud Pezeshkian’s reference at the UN to Iranian children killed by Israeli strikes triggered a backlash at home, where many asked why he did not also acknowledge the dozens of children slain by Iranian security forces during the 2022 uprising.
The contrast revived one of the movement’s most searing slogans: “Death to the child-killing government.”
The stories of these children underscore the scale and cruelty of the crackdown, where even toddlers were killed and grieving families were threatened into silence.
The boy who became a symbol
Nine-year-old Kian Pourfalak from Izeh in southwest Iran became a national symbol. He was killed when security forces opened fire on his family’s car on 16 November 2022. His parents—wounded but survived—insist they were deliberately targeted.
A bright, imaginative child, Kian loved rainbows and robotics, constantly inventing projects and experiments. One of his proudest creations was a boat built from lollipop sticks that floated successfully on water.
After his death, images of his rainbow drawings and handmade boat spread widely, becoming symbols of innocence and promise destroyed by the crackdown.
Kian’s parents have faced repeated intimidation and summons by intelligence officials for speaking publicly about his killing
The Youngest Victim
The youngest victim recorded was just two years old. Known only by her family name, Mirshekar, she was reportedly shot dead while playing outside her home in Zahedan, in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, on 30 September 2022.
That day—remembered as “Zahedan’s Bloody Friday”—was among the deadliest of the uprising.
Security forces and snipers opened fire on protesting crowds after Friday prayers in the city’s Sunni-majority area, killing over 100 people and injuring many more with live ammunition, pellets, and tear gas.
More than a dozen children were among the dead.
The Child Laborer
Also killed on Bloody Friday was Mohammad-Eghbal Nayeb-Zehi, a 16-year-old Baluchi boy.
From a poor family without official identity papers, he had worked in construction since the age of nine to help support his parents and siblings.
That Friday, he walked many kilometers from his village to Zahedan to attend prayers. Carrying just enough money for a sandwich afterward, he was gunned down.
His modest dream was to one day buy a smartphone and open an Instagram account—a simple ambition that captured both his hopes and the fragility of his life.
Lost Before First Class
Hasti Narouei, a seven-year-old about to begin her first year of school, never made it.
On 30 September, her grandmother took her along to Friday prayers. There, she was reportedly struck on the head by a tear gas canister.
Hasti suffocated and died before she ever had the chance to sit in a classroom.
Gunned down on the way to school
In a village near Saravan, also in Sistan and Baluchestan, Mona Naghib was walking to class with her older sister Maryam when security forces opened fire while chasing two teenage protesters.
A bullet struck Mona. Maryam tried to carry her home, but she died before any medical help could arrive. The family has faced threats from intelligence officials who ordered them to remain silent, according to rights groups.
Killed for chanting
Helen Ahmadi, a seven-year-old girl from Bukan in West Azerbaijan Province, was shot on 12 October 2022 while walking home from school with other children, allegedly for chanting slogans.
Activists say security forces later pressured her family to claim her death was caused by a car accident, highlighting the ongoing intimidation faced by families of children killed in the crackdown.
