15 January 2026 :
January 8, 2026 - IRAN. Hengaw Report: 5 killed, including two women, in Tehran protests
Five Kurdish people — Golaleh Mahmoudi Azar from Mahabad, Zahra Moradi and Siavash Shirzad from Bukan, Erfan Alizadeh from Lumar in Sirvan County, and Ali Abbasi from Gilan-e Gharb (Gilan) — were killed in Tehran after being shot directly by Iranian government forces during protests in the city. With these cases, Hengaw has so far identified and published the identities of 12 Kurdish people, including three women, who were killed during protests in Tehran.
According to information received by Hengaw, on the evening of January 8, 2026, Mahmoudi Azar, Moradi, Shirzad, Alizadeh, and Abbasi were killed during protests in Tehran after being shot directly by Iranian government forces.
Golaleh (Maryam) Mahmoudi Azar, a 26-year-old Kurdish woman from Mahabad, had been living in Tehran with her husband, who is from Paveh in Kermanshah Province. She was killed by direct gunfire. Her body was returned to Mahabad and buried under a heavy security presence and enforced silence. Hengaw sources emphasized that the name “Rozhin,” Golaleh’s sister, was incorrectly reported elsewhere as the victim.
Zahra Moradi, a Kurdish woman from Hesar village, a district of Bukan, was killed during protests in Tehranser, western Tehran, after being shot in the head and chest. She was working as a hairdresser in Tehran and had recently married. According to information received by Hengaw, her uncle and cousin were seriously injured at the same time after being struck by pellet gunfire.
Siavash Shirzad, a 38-year-old Kurdish man from Bukan, was also killed by direct gunfire from government forces. After his body was released, his family was forced to hold his burial ceremony in Tazeh Qaleh village, Bukan, due to security pressure. He was married and the father of one child.
Erfan Alizadeh, a 24-year-old Kurdish man from Lumar in Sirvan County, Ilam Province, was killed after being shot directly during protests in Varamin, southeast of Tehran Province.
Ali Abbasi, an 18-year-old Kurdish man from Gilan-e Gharb in Kermanshah Province, who had been working as a laborer in Tehran, was killed by direct gunfire from government forces. Hengaw sources confirmed that live ammunition struck his right side and kidney. He was transferred to hospital and died several hours later. His body was buried on January 12, at Aval-e Viyar Cemetery in Gilan-e Gharb. On the same day as the protests, Ali Abbasi’s uncle, Shahriar Moradi, was arrested by IRGC Intelligence during protests in Gilan-e Gharb.
Hengaw has learned that the bodies of these five people were handed over only after their families searched among hundreds of bodies in Tehran’s morgues.
According to credible information, Iranian government forces pressured the families of those killed to give forced televised confessions in exchange for the release of their loved ones’ bodies, falsely attributing the killings to protesters. Hengaw sources confirmed that the families paid the demanded sum of one billion tomans but refused to participate in forced confessions.
Based on data recorded by Hengaw’s Statistics and Documentation Center, at least 48 Kurdish people have been killed during the recent protests. Of these, 12 — representing 25 percent — were killed in Tehran.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/01/article-103
