Mourners in the western Iranian city of Aligoudarz chanted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday during the funeral of Omid Sarlak, a young man found dead hours after posting a video of himself burning the leader’s photo.
Videos received by Iran International show large crowds attending Sarlak’s burial in Lorestan province, chanting “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator.”
Others cried, “We will kill whoever killed my brother,” and “This flower that has withered is a gift to the homeland.”
Several mourners recited verses from the Shahnameh -- the Persian national epic written by the 10th-century poet Ferdowsi, which celebrates heroism and resistance to tyranny -- comparing Sarlak’s courage to that of ancient Persian heroes.
Sarlak’s father appeared in a widely shared video at the site where his son’s body was found, saying, “They killed my champion here.” Another man in the clip can be heard saying Sarlak was “surrounded and shot.”
The funeral followed comments from Ali Asadollahi, the police commander of Aligoudarz, who said on Sunday that the body of a young man had been discovered inside a car near Arsalan Goodarzi Stadium, adding that he “took his own life with a handgun.”
Authorities did not identify the victim, but social media users soon named him as Sarlak and accused officials of pressuring the family to endorse the suicide narrative.
A final act of defiance
Before his death, Sarlak had posted videos on Instagram showing a burning photo of Khamenei with an archival recording of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s voice playing over it.
In another story tagged “Death to Khamenei,” he wrote: “How long should we endure humiliation, poverty, and being ridden over? This is the moment to show yourself, young people. These clerics are nothing but a stream for Iran’s youth to cross.”
Activists described Sarlak as a patriotic youth and said he was “killed under torture by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry” hours after sharing the video.
Another user wrote he had been “arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organization and his bruised, tortured body was later returned to his family.”
Iran International cannot independently verify those remarks. Judicial and security authorities have not provided clarification on the circumstances of his death, and the lack of transparency has intensified public skepticism.
In recent years, officials have repeatedly attributed suspicious deaths to suicide -- a statement widely doubted by the public, who often use the phrase “he was suicided” to express disbelief.
One such case was that of former political prisoner Sara Tabrizi, found dead at her parents’ home last year after pressure from security forces.
