A group of Iranian filmmakers renewed a January statement condemning the suppression of anti-government protests, with 83 additional signatories joining the declaration in recent days, bringing the total to 266.
“We, the filmmakers of Iran, condemn the suppression of people’s protests under any pretext. Protest is the natural and civil right of every human being. No power has the right to consider itself above the people,” the signatories wrote.
In a statement on January 25, the editorial board of Iran International said more than 36,500 people were killed during the targeted suppression of the Iranian protesters on the orders of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Referring to the killing of demonstrators, they added: “Shooting at people who have taken to the streets with empty hands is a crime against the right to life and has no justification.”
The statement, titled “We stand with the people of Iran,” comes after weeks of unrest and follows similar declarations by other civil and professional groups.
Earlier, more than 60 writers and activists in the field of children’s and young adult literature from several countries issued a separate statement condemning the killings on January 8 and 9.
On February 16, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations announced a day of public mourning and school closures on February 18 in response to the deaths of more than 230 children and teenagers during the January protests. The move amounted to a strike by teachers and a call on families to keep students at home.
In their statement, the filmmakers pointed to nearly five decades of governance despite what they described as vast natural and human resources, arguing that justice, welfare and security have not been achieved. They cited organized corruption, plunder of public wealth and what they called a “fear-inducing ideology” as drivers of widespread poverty and despair.
Among the signatories are Pegah Ahangarani, Mahnaz Afshar, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Jafar Panahi, Katayoun Riahi, Saman Salour, Kianoush Ayari and Asghar Farhadi.
The filmmakers concluded that they would document “these days and these wounds” and defend freedom of expression while standing alongside the Iranian people.
Mazaheri on Wednesday posted an image on Instagram of Khamenei labeled “Satan,” with the caption: “Your command over this sacred land has ended.”
The post was later deleted, and her wife Maryam Abdollahi said the goalkeeper’s current whereabouts are unknown.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars News said on Wednesday that a summons had been issued for Mazaheri over an alleged 4-billion-toman - $80,000 - fraud, and that the footballer was "exploiting the country's situation and fabricating lies to avoid paying his debts."
Mazaheri's wife rejected the Fars report, calling them a “carefully engineered lie meant to cover up the truth.”
“Any reports suggesting his arrest over financial matters are fabricated lies meant to hide the truth," she posted on Instagram.
“Rashid knew about these traps and has stood courageously, remaining in his homeland. His bravery cannot be hidden behind these dirty scenarios," she said.
Mazaheri was a goalkeeper for Tehran giants Esteghlal and was even named in Iran's preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Across platforms, the pattern repeats: a final slogan, a warning, a declaration — and then silence.
Profiles remain searchable, timelines intact, bios unchanged. Friends return to the comment sections to grieve. Strangers leave messages of defiance.
What began as personal accounts have, in death, become public memorials.
Sam Rezaee: a final slogan
Sam Rezaee was 21 years old when he posted, “Long Live the Shah (King).”
Born in Shiraz, he joined X in 2024 and quickly became active in pro-monarchy circles, mixing political commentary with humor and memes. Friends say he followed online trends closely and cared deeply about how he presented himself, both digitally and in person.
On January 8, near Saadi Cinema in Shiraz, Sam was struck by pellets in the neck and chest. A source close to the family confirmed that a viral video circulating online shows the moment he was shot.
“He was still alive here,” the source said. “They took him to the hospital, where he later died.”
“It is very important for us to let the world know this is how Sam was killed and what they did to him,” the source added.
Sam had graduated from Iran’s elite gifted-students school system and worked in his family’s jewelry shop. He planned to study medicine in Italy.
Authorities delayed handing over his body for a week, the source said. Officials tried to pressure the family to declare that he was affiliated with the Basij militia. The family refused and were required to sign a pledge to remain silent.
He was buried under security supervision. Even the 40th-day memorial was sparsely attended.
His timeline remains visible, halted at that final message.
Raha Bohloulipour: a final declaration
Raha Bohloulipour was 23 when she posted her last message.
A first-year Italian literature student at the University of Tehran, she ran a Telegram channel with nearly 24,000 subscribers and had more than 4,500 followers on X.
Her final Telegram post read: “I’ve connected for a moment and I just want to write: Woman, Life, Freedom – forever.” After that, she never returned.
Bohloulipour was killed by live ammunition during protests on January 9 and buried in her hometown of Firouzabad in Fars province, according to colleagues and local sources.
In the days before her death, she wrote openly about exhaustion and fear.
“I’m disgusted – disgusted, disgusted – and so exhausted with the Islamic Republic. From the moment I stepped into the faculty today until I left, I was in tears... I’m unbearably tired and disgusted with the Islamic Republic.”
In another post she wrote: “…when I leave the dorm, deep down I’m not sure whether I’ll come back at night or not. Living under the shadow of the Islamic Republic.”
Students at the University of Tehran commemorated her during a protest gathering and chanted: “For every one person killed, a thousand stand behind them.”
Her channel remains frozen on that final declaration.
Vahid Mohammadlou: a bio left unchanged
Vahid Mohammadlou, 39, described himself on X as: “Former military man → soldier of Reza Shah II Pahlavi → soldier of the land of Iran || ‘Long live Iran, long live the King.’”
Posting under @IraniansWarrior, he had more than 3,700 followers.
On January 8 in Sadeghiyeh (Aryashahr), Tehran, he was shot in the eye and died from his injuries, according to family accounts and obituary posts. He left behind two children, aged 9 and 4.
In a widely circulated video, his four-year-old daughter hugs his photograph and asks those around her to leave. “Leave the room, I would like only my dad to be next to me,” she says in the heart-wrenching video.
His bio remains as he wrote it.
Mosayeb Nezami: a call to the streets
Mosayeb Nezami, 32, was a farmer from Borujerd in Lorestan province. He joined X in 2019 and had more than 1,500 followers.
His final post read: “Anger has to move into the streets – only tweeting lets us vent.”
On January 8 in Kourosh Square, Borujerd, he was shot from behind with live ammunition. The bullets struck his shoulder and heart. He died from his injuries.
Nezami had lost his father at age 10 and became the sole breadwinner for his family, supporting two sisters and a younger brother, according to colleagues.
His account still carries that final line.
Alireza Mousavi Noor: a warning in advance
Alireza Mousavi Noor, 29, known on X as Derakoolaye Ghamgin – Sad Dracula – had more than 10,000 followers.
On January 7, he wrote: “If I don’t come online again, don’t forget me. Know that I didn’t die for nothing. Say my name at the celebration of freedom.”
He was shot and killed the next day during protests in Baharestan, Isfahan.
The message now reads as premonition.
Masoud Zatparvar: from influencer to protester
Masoud (Mehdi) Zatparvar was an international bodybuilding coach and two-time World Classic Bodybuilding Overall Champion. His Instagram account had 242,000 followers, and he ran a website providing training and nutrition programs.
In his final post in January 2026, he wrote: “We only want our rights. A voice that has been stifled in me for forty years must be shouted. You caused what we are going through today. You took our youth, hope, dreams, and even the bare minimum from us. Today I am here – so that tomorrow I don’t look in the mirror and say I had no backbone, no honor. I stood, whatever the cost, I will pay it. I, Masoud Zatparvar, am in the street today. I have neither fear nor worry! I want my rights.”
He was killed on January 8, in Rasht after being struck by live ammunition, according to local accounts and social media posts.
His Instagram page has not been updated since.
Hamed Hamidian: A plea to Trump
Hamed Hamidian, 38, an X user with more than 7,300 followers who joined the platform in 2009, addressed US President Donald Trump in his final post before the January killings.
“Mr. president @realDonaldTrump, since you said you’re watching the situation in Iran, at least 20 people got killed! We can’t beat the devil empty handed, I’m begging you to cut to the chase and finish the Mullahs' regime.”
He was later reported killed during the protests on January 8 in Tehran.
Social media becomes a battleground
Researchers say this transformation — from personal timeline to digital shrine — has become a defining feature of protest movements in Iran.
“In the waves of anti-regime protests sweeping Iran, social media has played a paradoxical yet indispensable role as both a lifeline and a battleground for information and identity,” said Sahar Tahvili, an artificial intelligence and information technology researcher.
“In this environment, control over social media is no longer peripheral to politics — it is the political struggle itself,” she told Iran International.
Even during internet disruptions, users have documented protests through satellite connections, VPNs and diaspora networks, while authorities deployed competing narratives and digital manipulation, she added.
Each account now stands as a frozen timestamp — unfinished testimonies suspended in time. The posts remain, the timestamps fixed, but the authors do not.
Sohrabi underwent surgery to remove his eye after being transferred to hospital and subsequently fell into a coma. His family later donated his organs.
Videos circulating on social media show Sohrabi participating in a southeast Tehran provincial bodybuilding competition earlier that same afternoon, hours before he joined the protests.
Sohrabi had worked from the age of 14 and later became a bodybuilding coach. Following his death, images of him circulated widely online, with some users comparing his appearance to Turkish actor Can Yaman and others calling him “Iran’s Brad Pitt.”
His brother announced on Instagram that their mother had been hospitalized due to the physical and psychological toll of her son’s death. Minutes after the post was published, the story was deleted and all images related to Davoud and his funeral were removed from the account. The page later became inaccessible.
IranWire reported that the family has been under heavy pressure from security authorities and was asked to describe Davoud as a Basij member.
Behzad Nikyar, also known as Behzad Kimasi Selkhori, was killed on the evening of January 9 in the city of Qazvin, according to relatives who spoke to Iran International.
They said he was not taking part in protests and had walked a few meters from his home to leave a garbage bag at the end of his alley when he was struck.
The bullet entered one side of his body and exited the other as he was returning home, relatives said.
A video said to have been filmed the following morning shows blood stains along an alley in the Khaghani area of Qazvin, which family members say trace the path Nikyar tried to crawl back to his front door. He later died of his injuries. He was the father of one daughter, according to those accounts.
Nikyar’s death comes amid a wave of social media videos and testimonies alleging that security forces opened fire on pedestrians on January 8, 9 and 10, including people described by witnesses as not participating in demonstrations.
One video from Tehran’s Sattarkhan district, recorded by a building’s surveillance camera and circulated online, appears to show three people walking along a sidewalk when two armed men on a motorcycle stop ahead of them and fire in their direction without visible warning.
In Mashhad, a man was shot in the neck on the evening of January 9 while buying groceries about 50 meters from security forces, according to a witness account sent to Iran International.
In the northern city of Rasht, a resident said his elderly mother was hit by multiple pellet rounds in the head and legs after leaving a pharmacy at dusk that day. Another report described a pregnant woman shot outside a pharmacy in Isfahan.
Separately, a 16-year-old boy, Kasra Vafapour, was killed by a gunshot wound to the heart on January 9, according to citizen reports, which said he had gone out to buy medicine for his younger sister.
Residents from several cities, including Neyshabur, Borujerd and Sari, have said that security forces fired pellet rounds “indiscriminately” at passersby in recent weeks.
At least 36,500 people have been killed during the national uprising. Tens of thousands more have been reported injured or detained.
Students at several Iranian universities held a third consecutive day of protests on Monday, chanting against Ali Khamenei. At Amir Kabir, Tehran and Alzahra universities, students set fire to the flag of the Islamic Republic. At some of these universities, including Tehran University, Basij forces attacked students.
The image – a Basij-aligned student climbing up to pull down a stuffed animal – spread quickly online. More than a campus scuffle, it suggested a phrase that began on social media is now being contested in the physical arena of protest and counter-mobilization.
From meme to material symbol
The nickname Rat-Ali gained traction during the June war with Israel, when Khamenei largely disappeared from public view and state media aired only prerecorded video messages. Reports that he had taken shelter in fortified underground facilities during military escalation and later unrest fueled the metaphor.
In Persian, “moush” connotes hiding and evasion. By pairing it with the Supreme Leader’s name, critics flip the state’s image of firm leadership.
On Monday, that inversion took tangible form. The rat was not only an online meme but an object displayed and physically removed.
Political satire often loses force when ignored. Authority can neutralize insult through indifference. The decision by a Basiji student to climb the tree and take down the toy had the opposite effect: it signaled that the symbol was perceived as threatening enough to confront.
Precedent in protest language
Iran’s protest culture has repeatedly transformed ridicule into durable shorthand. After the 2020 US drone strike that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, some Iranians referred to him as “cutlet,” a darkly comic reference to the condition of his remains. The term proved difficult to suppress despite official efforts to preserve Soleimani’s image as a national icon.
However, Moush-Ali carries sharper political implications because it targets the apex of the system. Khamenei’s authority rests not only on constitutional powers but also on cultivated distance – a blend of religious stature and institutional control.
Mockery compresses that distance. A rat hanging from a tree reduces a figure positioned as untouchable into a repeatable visual punchline.
Authoritarian systems rely in part on aura – an impression of inevitability and psychological dominance. When that aura becomes vulnerable to parody, the cost of reaction rises. Suppression can amplify visibility; indifference can appear weak.
The scene at Sharif involved a toy, a tree and a handful of students. Yet the rapid spread of the image suggested a broader recalibration of political language.
