08 February 2026 :
February 6, 2026 - IRAN. Victim Accounts: Milad Gholami, Protester Whose Body Was Found After One Week
A source close to the family of Mohammad (Milad) Gholami, a 25-year-old protester from Tehran, has provided Iran Human Rights with new details regarding his death.
Milad, who participated in the anti-government protest on 8 January in Pirouzi Street, Tehran, was killed by state forces using live ammunition. His family remained unaware of his fate for a week, eventually identifying his body among corpses laid on the ground at Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.
Amin Gholami, Milad’s brother, told IHR: “My brother’s name on his birth certificate is Mohammad, but at home, we called him Milad. Our family lives in Tehranpars, East Tehran. My brother was a computer science student. He was killed during the Tehran protests; he had been shot in the head. He told the family he was going out; it was the last time, on January 8. The family had no news of him for a week until they found his body at Behesht-e Zahra.”
Amin Gholami, who lives outside Iran, stated that after searching various hospitals in Tehran, his family finally located Milad’s body at a Hospital in Pirouze Street: “After Milad was shot, he was taken to a hospital closest to the protests on Pirouzi Street. According to what my family heard, he had passed away within the first few minutes. At the hospital, they were told that a number of bodies had been transferred to Behesht-e Zahra. The family went there and opened the body bags of every single corpse on the ground until they found my brother’s body among them.”
Amin Gholami believes the reason for his brother’s presence in the anti-government protests, like many other protesters, was economic hardship, and says the government’s response to this protest was live ammunition: “Milad was a protester against the living conditions and the economic situation. Many people were killed on Pirouzi Street and the crowd was very large. I heard they massacred many people.”
He further mentioned that the family saw his brother's body before the burial, though he has not seen any images of it himself: “I haven't seen a photo of his corpse, but they only told me he was shot in the head. My family didn't name the specific branch or agency that fired the shot, but it was live ammunition. Because phones are tapped, they didn't provide more information.”
Amin Gholami stated that state forces did not obstruct the return of his brother’s body to the family, although he has heard that many families were charged fees to receive the bodies of the slain: “There was no problem in returning my brother's body and it was handed over to my family. The family had no issues holding the funeral. However, I’ve heard from many that money was demanded in exchange for the body, or they were told to sign forms stating that he was a member of Basij (paramilitary branch of IRGC). Thankfully, this didn't happen to my family, and they were able to perform the burial without any problems at Behesht-e Zahra, where they wanted. My family didn't say anything about threats or security pressure. It's possible there were some, but due to the nature of the calls, they didn't speak of it.”
My family didn't say anything about threats or security pressure. Now, it's possible there was some, but they didn't say anything about it due to the nature of the calls.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/8589/
