Body of 18-Year-Old Protester Found After Exhumation as Security Forces Pressure Family to Call Him “Government Martyr”
The body of Soroush Karami, an 18-year-old Kurdish teenager from Sanandaj and Kamyaran, who was killed by direct gunfire from Islamic Republic forces during nationwide protests on December 9, 2025, has been identified following an exhumation after six months and 19 days of uncertainty and mistaken burial. Simultaneously, reports indicate pressure from security agencies on his family to present this deceased protester as a “government official killed in the protests.”
Approximately seven months after the nationwide protests of December 2024, the crackdown on protesters in Iran continues unabated. While some detainees face severe sentences or face execution, and numerous reports emerge of arrests, torture, and pressure on families of the deceased, Soroush Karami’s case has once again brought attention to how the Islamic Republic treats victims of protests and their families.
According to a report by the human rights organization Hengaw, the body of Soroush Karami, an 18-year-old Kurdish youth from Sanandaj and Kamyaran district, who was killed by direct gunfire from government forces during protests on Thursday, December 9, 2025, has been identified following an exhumation after six months and 19 days of uncertainty.
According to the report and information released by sources close to his family, during the events following the suppression of the protests, Soroush Karami’s body was mistakenly handed over to the family of another deceased person named Amir Ali Heidari. The Heidari family, believing they had received their son’s body, buried him in the village of “Sarableh.”
Finally, yesterday evening, with the presence of the families of both deceased individuals, a prosecutor’s representative, and forensic officials, the aforementioned grave was exhumed and examination showed that the buried body belonged to Soroush Karami. It was simultaneously revealed that Amir Ali Heidari’s body had been buried throughout this period in an unmarked grave.
Sources close to the Karami family stated that the Islamic Republic’s security agencies have pressured this teenager’s family to present him as a “government official killed in the protests” and that announcements related to his burial ceremony be issued under this title. If true, such claims raise serious questions about how the government treats families of protest victims.
Earlier, some informal reports had circulated about Soroush Karami’s arrest, charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), and the possibility of an execution sentence for him in Diesel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. However, subsequent investigations by the Hengaw organization showed that these reports were false and that Soroush Karami lost his life on the same day, December 9, 2025, as a result of direct gunfire from government forces and was never imprisoned in Diesel Abad Prison.
According to the family’s announcement, Soroush Karami’s body is scheduled to be buried today, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in his hometown village of “Lanjab” in Sanandaj and Kamyaran district.
The discovery of this teenager’s body after months of uncertainty comes at a time when families of many protest victims continue to report security pressures, threats, arrests, prevention of memorial ceremonies, and government attempts to alter the official narrative about how their loved ones were killed. This case once again draws public attention to the situation of protesters and victim families—families who, months after the end of the protests, continue to face uncertainty about their loved ones’ remains and the security and legal consequences thereof.
