IRAN - 5 Kurdish men shot dead

IRAN - At least five Kurdish men shot dead by Iranian forces in Kermanshah protests

January 8, 2026:

January 8, 2026 - IRAN. At least five Kurdish men shot dead by Iranian forces in Kermanshah protests

At least five Kurdish men were killed during protests in the Dareh Deraz neighborhood of Kermanshah after Iranian government forces opened direct fire on demonstrators. The victims were identified as Keyvan Rezaei, Yasin Mirzaei, Behrouz Safaei, Saman Nazari, 23, and Sayyad Faramarzi. The majority of residents in this neighborhood are followers of the Yarsan faith.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the men were killed by direct gunfire from forces of the Nabi Akram Corps during protests that took place on Thursday evening, January 8, 2026, in the Dareh Deraz neighborhood, also known as Mahdieh Township.

Hengaw has learned that Mirzaei had been residing in France as a university student and had returned to Kermanshah to visit his family. However, due to the complete internet shutdown and limited access to independent sources in the area, Hengaw has not been able to independently verify his student status.

In a related development, an informed source told Hengaw that during the protests a man identified as Aram Fathi, who had been seriously injured by direct gunfire, was detained by Iranian government forces and transferred to an undisclosed location.

Based on the latest information obtained from local sources, at least 41 people wounded by live ammunition during the protests are currently hospitalized at Taleghani Hospital in Kermanshah. The conditions of two of the injured, Mohammad Miri and Afshar Najafi, have been reported as critical.

After the deliberate and nationwide internet shutdown imposed by Iranian authorities, Hengaw was able to re-establish limited contact with Kermanshah through local sources. These accounts indicate that protests in the Dareh Deraz neighborhood continued until approximately 3:00 a.m. local time on Friday, January, 2026. During this period, government forces, particularly units of the Nabi Akram Corps, used military and semi-heavy weapons, including DShK heavy machine guns and Kalashnikov rifles, to carry out widespread gunfire toward protesters.

Hengaw has also received reports from local sources indicating that during clashes between government forces and protesters in Dareh Deraz, at least 10 members of the Nabi Akram Corps were killed. This information was received amid severe restrictions on access to independent verification.

Hengaw had previously reported the killing of another follower of the Yarsan faith, Amirhesam Khodayarifard, 22, during protests in Kuhdasht, Lorestan Province, on December 31, 2025.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, followers of the Yarsan faith have faced sustained pressure, repression, and discrimination. During the Woman, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement, Yarsan followers played an active role in protests across multiple cities. Documented reports indicate that at least eight Kurdish Yarsan men were killed during the movement, and Reza Rasaei, a political prisoner linked to the movement, was executed by the Iranian judiciary.

Followers of the Yarsan faith are predominantly Kurdish and are mainly based in Iran’s Kermanshah Province and parts of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with smaller communities in cities including Hamadan, Khorramabad, Tabriz, Qazvin, and Tehran.

https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/01/article-68