BBC News Persian has verified the identities of more than 200 people who were killed during the nationwide protests in Iran. The work combines social media investigation, analysis of video and photographic material, interviews with witnesses and families, and comparisons with open-source data and human rights records.
Human rights monitors based outside Iran have reported higher death tolls than those acknowledged by Iranian authorities. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has confirmed 6,872 deaths, including more than 150 children. Iranian officials have acknowledged at least 3,000 fatalities but say some of those killed were members of security forces.
BBC News Persian confirmed that the couple were shot dead by security forces while taking part in protests in Bushehr on 8 January. According to a family friend, security forces opened fire on people gathered outside a mosque. Behrouz was fatally wounded by a head injury; Mansoureh initially ran away but returned to her husband and was later shot.
The couple died side by side in the street, leaving two children aged eight and 10. Their bodies were returned by security forces four days later and they were buried next to each other. A close relative said the family were “proud” that the couple had “died for their homeland” but added that they now live in fear under intense security pressure.
Ghazal, a 17-year-old art student, was shot outside her family home in Karaj on 9 January, BBC investigators established. A source close to the family told BBC News Persian that security forces refused to allow the family to bury her locally; her remains were instead interred in a remote cemetery far from the family home.
Negin, a 28-year-old biotechnology student, joined demonstrators in Tonekabon despite her father’s pleas that she stay home. Witnesses and family sources say security forces opened fire on the crowd; she was struck and fell into her father’s arms. As she lay dying she told him, “Dad, I’m burning.”
The project used multiple strands of evidence to confirm identities and circumstances of death:
Investigators faced major obstacles when Iran cut internet, mobile and landline services in early January for nearly three weeks. To continue verification, teams relied on alternate communications such as satellite internet services and on-the-ground accounts from people who travelled to border areas to access neighbouring networks.
The verification project is ongoing. The BBC Visual Journalism team has produced an interactive “face wall” for readers to explore profiles on the BBC News Persian site, and more names and details will be added as further reporting and cross-checking are completed.
Many of the interviews and accounts used in the investigation came from people inside Iran whose identities cannot be disclosed for their safety. The BBC says it cross-checked information with multiple independent sources and with established human rights organisations before publishing verified profiles.
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