![\"Hessam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c81550bb1529e96413276d3fd4c7d39866911428-527x900.jpg\")
Hessam Khodayarifard<\/p>\nThe killings in Kuhdasht, Azna and Lordegan came before the government shut down internet access, cutting off communication with the outside world and plunging Iran into silence. The area home to Iran’s marginalized Lur ethnic minority.<\/p>\n
In those early hours, shock and horror spread through hushed calls and voice notes, as brief videos surfaced of blood-stained children of Iran \u2014 someone\u2019s son, someone\u2019s brother, someone\u2019s loved one \u2014 all killed by security forces.<\/p>\n
Sources who spoke to Iran International requested anonymity, fearing reprisals from authorities for speaking to the media.<\/p>\n
Hessam Khodayarifard: a life snuffed out on New Year\u2019s Eve<\/p>\n
Hessam Khodayarifard<\/p>\n
Hessam Khodayarifard was shot dead in the western Iranian city of Kuhdasht on the evening of New Year’s eve. The 22-year-old was killed on Wednesday night, December 31, 2025, during a crackdown on protests, two family sources told Iran International.<\/p>\n
Authorities initially refused to hand over his body and pressured the family to present him as a member of the Revolutionary Guard\u2019s Basij militia, relatives said. The claim was later publicly rejected by Hessam\u2019s father, who spoke at his son\u2019s funeral after the body was eventually returned.<\/p>\n
But his burial brought no peace. Mourners gathered in large numbers, chanting anti-government slogans. Confrontations erupted as security personnel moved in, turning the funeral into another site of repression where grief and anger were met with force.<\/p>\n
Shayan Asadollahi: the family\u2019s only provider<\/p>\n
![\"Shayan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/7785187ee016665e01c9af9b2bc65b39f07ce41a-1278x1626.png\")
Shayan Asadollahi<\/p>\n
On New Year\u2019s Day, gunfire cut through the night in Azna in Iran\u2019s western Lorestan province, where Shayan Asadollahi was shot dead. He was 28.<\/p>\n
A relative told Iran International that Shayan was killed as he and a group of other protesters were returning home from a demonstration. Several military pickup trucks belonging to the Revolutionary Guard attacked the group, the source said, and security forces opened fire using military-grade weapons.<\/p>\n
A live round struck Shayan in the abdomen according to photographs verified by Iran International. At least two other protesters were also killed during the same crackdown, the source added. Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars News later reported that three protesters had been killed in Azna.<\/p>\n
Shayan was a barber, known in his community for working long hours to support his family. About a year earlier, his father and uncle had both died in an accident, the source said, leaving Shayan as the family\u2019s sole breadwinner.<\/p>\n
Reza Moradi: a child killed in the protests<\/p>\n
![\"Reza](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/6af95c7a1de7c637e71977dd989efb6cdffd5b93-1079x1078.jpg\")
Reza Moradi<\/p>\n
Another victim from Azna was still a child.<\/p>\n
Reza Moradi was 17 \u2014 the eldest child in his family which hails from the Abdolvand tribe, part of Iran\u2019s Lur minority. He was shot on Thursday, January 1 during protests outside Azna\u2019s central police station.<\/p>\n
Security forces shot him twice, a source close to the family said: once in the head and once in the lower torso.<\/p>\n
Video analyzed and verified by Iran International from that evening shows Reza unconscious on the ground, blood visible along the side of his head. Bystanders carried him to Valian Hospital in the nearby city of Aligudarz.<\/p>\n
The hospital was placed under heavy security, the source said. Visits were banned. Only once \u2014 after repeated insistence \u2014 was Reza\u2019s mother allowed to see her son briefly.<\/p>\n
Reza died in hospital on the following Monday morning.<\/p>\n
Authorities initially refused to hand over his body. When Reza was eventually returned and buried, a video at his grave site showed his younger brother clinging to the fresh earth in tears. <\/p>\n
Reza had dropped out of school to help support his family, working as an apprentice in auto body repair and paint. His father is a laborer, and the family\u2019s financial situation was dire, the source said.<\/p>\n
Sajjad Valamanesh: grief and coercion<\/p>\n
![\"Sajjad](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0493db637e691b29113087888261ed1b24a354c8-1252x1226.png\")
Sajjad Valamanesh<\/p>\n
In neighboring Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, home to Bakhtiari Lur communities and about a three-hour drive southeast of Azna, authorities followed up another deadly shooting with further crackdowns.<\/p>\n
In the city of Lordegan, Sajjad Valamanesh, a 20-year-old protester, was killed after being shot by security forces during demonstrations on Thursday, January 1, sources close to the family told Iran International.<\/p>\n
The violence did not end with his death. Authorities repeatedly contacted Sajjad\u2019s relatives in the days that followed, including calls from the Revolutionary Guard\u2019s Intelligence Organization, a source close to the family said.<\/p>\n
His father was pressured into giving an interview aired by state media in which he called for an official crackdown on “rioters,” but the source said he did so only to secure the release of Sajjad\u2019s body for burial.<\/p>\n
Sajjad was not a member of the Basij and was a monarchy supporter, the source said.<\/p>\n
He was buried on Friday with a large crowd attending his funeral.<\/p>\n
Witness to the fate of the boy in a blue T-shirt<\/p>\n
A 20-year-old witness who was present at the protests in Azna said he saw security forces shoot a teenager who looked \u201cno more than 15 years old\u201d on a road near the city\u2019s main police station, where protesters had gathered on January 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw them with my own eyes,\u201d he said. \u201cSecurity forces shot the boy, and he fell into a roadside drainage ditch.\u201d<\/p>\n
A group of protesters rushed to help him, he said. \u201cBut he was not moving anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
The witness said the scene stayed with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter seeing what I saw, I just could not take it anymore,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I went back to the protests the next day as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
In messages sent shortly before the internet was shut down, the witness said he feared the world would never know what was happening in his hometown.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it does not matter to the world,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause Azna is so small.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the truth is that Lurs and Bakhtiaris have been deeply harmed by this wretched regime, even though this land is rich and full of resources,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, it is already over,\u201d he said. \u201cI only wish that the lives of the next generation will be more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before contact was cut, he made a final plea: \u201cPlease tell our stories,\u201d he said. \u201cPlease tell the world what they did to my people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four names, countless others remain unknown<\/p>\n
These four names represent only a fraction of what unfolded in those days. They are among the few cases Iran International was able to document in detail. <\/p>\n