{"id":403024,"date":"2026-01-11T18:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/403024\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:06:09","slug":"a-student-a-bodybuilder-and-a-father-of-three-among-those-killed-in-protests-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/403024\/","title":{"rendered":"A student, a bodybuilder and a father of three among those killed in protests in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Robina Aminian, a 23-year-old studying at university in Tehran, had dreams of moving to Milan to pursue a career in fashion. Her Instagram account showed her proudly displaying various traditional Kurdish outfits.\n <\/p>\n

\n On Thursday, she left the Tehran Shariati Technical University, where she was studying fashion design, to join a rally against the regime that was gathering in the capital, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO).\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe was a strong girl, a courageous girl, and she was not someone you could control and make decisions for. She fought for things she knew were right and fought hard,\u201d her uncle Nezar Minouei told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cShe was thirsty for freedom, thirsty for women\u2019s rights, her rights,\u201d her uncle said. \u201cOverall, she was a girl who was alive, who lived.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n At the protest, Aminian was killed by gunfire, according to Hengaw, a Norway-based human rights organization.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite a days-long internet blackout, CNN is learning details about some of the Iranians killed as security forces launch a violent crackdown on anti-government protests sweeping the country.\n <\/p>\n

\n At least 420 protesters have been killed over the past 15 days during anti-government demonstrations, including eight children, according to a detailed tally provided to CNN by Skylar Thompson, deputy director of Human Rights Activists in Iran (also known as HRA).\n <\/p>\n

\n The latest death toll comes as several people inside Iran have told CNN that Iranian security forces are responding to dissent with violent force. Two people in Tehran, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said they saw security forces brandishing rifles on Friday and killing \u201cmany people.\u201d Another eyewitness said she saw \u201cbodies piled up on each other\u201d in a hospital.\n <\/p>\n

\n Aminian\u2019s family detailed the harrowing scenes they were confronted with when they went to collect her body, according to Minouei, having driven from their home in Kermanshah in western Iran to Tehran.\n <\/p>\n

\n Her father said Aminian\u2019s body was being kept with the bodies of numerous young people aged between 18 and 22 years old. \u201cAlmost all of them had been shot in the head and neck,\u201d Minouei said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Authorities initially refused to return the daughter\u2019s body, the uncle said. When the family were finally able to retrieve her remains, they were forced to bury her with their own hands without a ceremony, he added.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAs a family, we are heartbroken, but our head is held up high because our girl was martyred on the road to freedom, on the road to a better life that she fought for,\u201d Aminian\u2019s uncle said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite the risks, defiant protesters have continued to turn out in large numbers across the country. The demonstrations have spread to more than 180 cities in all of Iran\u2019s provinces, in a wave of nationwide unrest triggered by crippling economic conditions<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n Iranian protesters risk death on multiple fronts, whether being shot down by security forces in the streets, or being charged with \u201cmoharebeh\u201d translated as \u201cwaging war against God,\u201d for vandalizing property, the punishment for which includes execution.\n <\/p>\n

\n In Kermanshah in western Iran, Ebrahim Yousifi, a father of three, was shot in the head during protests on Thursday, his cousin told CNN. Yousifi, a 42-year-old hospital worker, leaves behind two sons and a daughter, according to the cousin, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.\n <\/p>\n

\n Since Thursday, communication with the family has been \u201ccompletely cut,\u201d the cousin said, as experts warn the internet blackout in Iran, now in its fourth day, is unprecedented<\/a> in its reach.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cEven our relatives in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have been unable to reach anyone in Iran to confirm whether his body has been returned. The authorities\u2019 response in Kurdish regions has been considerably more severe than in many other parts of the country,\u201d his cousin said.\n <\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

\n Mehdi Zatparvar, a former champion bodybuilder and coach, was killed on Friday during protests in the city of Rasht in Gilan province in northwestern Iran, Hengaw, a Norway-based human rights organization, reported.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 39-year-old athlete was a two-time World Classic Bodybuilding champion, according to the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation. Zatparvar held a master\u2019s degree in sports physiology, and was widely regarded as an experienced coach in Gilan, Hengaw said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Zatparvar wrote in his most recent Instagram post, \u201cWe only want our rights, the voice that has been stifled for forty years must be shouted out,\u201d according to the pro-reform outlet IranWire. His Instagram account has now been taken down.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN has been unable to independently verify these reports due to the ongoing communications blackout in Iran. CNN has sought comment from Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN\u2019s Nechirvan Mando and Billy Stockwell contributed reporting.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robina Aminian, a 23-year-old studying at university in Tehran, had dreams of moving to Milan to pursue a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-403024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}