Mohammad Nayeb-Zehi was among the many a whole bunch of worshippers who gathered on September 30 on the Nice Mosalla, a spiritual website in Iran’s southeastern metropolis of Zahedan, for Friday Prayers.
Simply hours later, the 16-year-old’s household discovered he was useless.
Nayeb-Zehi was among the many scores of individuals gunned down by safety forces in a brutal crackdown following anti-government protests in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchistan Province, which is residence to the nation’s Baluch minority.
“He was a easy laborer and never political,” Nayeb-Zehi’s brother, Ahmad, advised RFE/RL’s Radio Farda in a phone interview from Zahedan, including that his sibling had been shot within the coronary heart. “We’re in ache, and we can’t settle for it.”
The crackdown in Zahedan got here amid weeks-long nationwide protests triggered by the demise of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who died on September 16, days after she was detained by Iran’s morality police.
In Sistan-Baluchistan, public anger on the authorities escalated amid stories {that a} 15-year-old Baluch lady had been raped by a police official within the province’s southern port metropolis of Chabahar.
The violence erupted quickly after protesters gathered outdoors a police station close to the central mosque in Zahedan. Members of the group chanted anti-government slogans, and a few threw rocks. Safety forces responded with lethal power by firing on the group from the station, in line with witnesses.
Safety forces additionally raided the central mosque and the close by Nice Mosalla and opened hearth on worshippers utilizing reside ammunition, rights teams stated, including that many had been shot within the head, coronary heart, neck, or torso, revealing a transparent intent to kill or critically wound.
Not less than 94 folks had been killed and 350 wounded on that day, known as “Bloody Friday,” in line with the U.S.-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Middle. Not less than 13 minors had been amongst these killed, together with Nayeb-Zehi.
The victims had been overwhelmingly Baluch — a principally Sunni ethnic group that has lengthy confronted disproportionate discrimination by the hands of the Iranian authorities.
“He was martyred contained in the Mosalla whereas holding his prayer mat,” stated Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi.
Nayeb-Zehi’s household first visited Zahedan’s Khatam al-Anbia hospital, hoping he was among the many wounded. They later discovered his physique in a seminary on the Nice Mosalla.
“We entered a room there and noticed about 10 our bodies,” stated Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi. “[Mohammad] was amongst them.”
He stated the authorities prevented the household from filming the scene. “I advised them this needs to be documented, it needs to be printed by worldwide media,” he stated, including that footage later emerged on social media exhibiting the ugly scene on the seminary.
The household refused to ship Nayeb-Zehi’s physique to the morgue. As a substitute, his physique lay in the lounge for round 24 hours earlier than he was buried.
“We stated he was martyred and there was no want for an post-mortem,” stated Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi.
The authorities accused Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant group, of attacking the police station. The group is acknowledged as a terrorist group by each Iran and the USA and has beforehand claimed lethal assaults in Sistan-Baluchistan concentrating on Iranian safety forces.
However native and impartial sources have rejected the authorities’ claims.
The authorities have additionally reported a a lot decrease variety of fatalities, asserting that solely 19 folks, together with a number of members of the safety forces, had been killed.
Ahmad Nayeb-Zehi stated the authorities had been “rubbing salt into the injuries of the folks” by claiming “terrorists” had been concerned.
He stated he witnessed a navy helicopter taking pictures at civilians close to the Nice Mosalla. “I have not even seen such scenes in Hollywood motion pictures,” he stated. “A helicopter was taking pictures at folks. A girl was shot in entrance of my eyes.”
RFE/RL couldn’t confirm his account. However activists have accused safety forces of taking pictures at protestors from helicopters.
“I do not know what the intention of this crime was,” he stated. “Our solely demand from the institution is for the murderers of our [family members] to be punished.”
The killings have led to widespread anger in Sistan-Baluchistan, one among Iran’s poorest provinces.
Anti-establishment protests have been reported in Zahedan because the crackdown, together with on October 14 and October 21, when protesters took to the streets after Friday Prayers and chanted “Loss of life to the dictator.”
Throughout his Friday Prayers sermon on October 21, influential Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi stated senior officers, together with Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been “accountable” for the September 30 killings.
“We’re stunned by the silence of the high-ranking officers,” he stated in his sermon, which was posted on his web site.
“Scores had been killed right here with none purpose. I haven’t got the precise quantity. Some have reported 90, some say much less, some say extra,” Ismaeelzahi added.
He additionally stated folks won’t be glad till “those that killed the folks” are delivered to justice.
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Middle stated the occasions of September 30 amounted to “a bloodbath of protesters by safety forces.”
“The federal government’s complete denial of duty for the massacring of residents by its safety equipment is in line with comparable previous denials and is proof that inner requires investigation of such crimes are inadequate,” stated the rights group, which paperwork human rights violations in Iran.
