“Ehsan Afshary” Lost His Life in Violent Protests in Iran

“Ehsan Afshary,” a resident of Västerås in Sweden, lost his life during violent protests in Iran.

Ehsan Afshari-Manesh, a 39-year-old resident of Västerås in Sweden, lost his life during violent protests after traveling to Iran to visit his family. According to available information, there are concerns that he was killed during the suppression of public protests by government forces.

Since late December, a widespread wave of protests has swept through various cities in Iran. These protests formed in response to the severe depreciation of the national currency, high inflation, and widespread dissatisfaction with corruption, injustice, and human rights violations by the government.

Ehsan, who had lived in Västerås for years, traveled to Iran on March 26, 2025, with the stated purpose of visiting his close family. He was previously a member of a Persian-speaking church in Västerås.

News of his death was initially transmitted through his mother, who lives in Iran, to his sister in Canada. Ehsan had no close relatives in Sweden, but his father, mother, and another sister live in Iran.

One of his close friends in Västerås, who has been friends with Ehsan since 2010 when he immigrated to Sweden, says the news has deeply affected him. According to this friend, their last contact was in early January on the occasion of the New Year.

Ehsan’s friend says: “Despite being aware of the dangers, Ehsan decided to return to Iran. He had left Iran years ago after fleeing military service. According to his close ones, Ehsan was suffering from depression and needed a fresh start in life. On the other hand, his aging parents’ advancing age had given him a strong desire to visit them. His stay in Iran was supposed to be about a month, but according to reports, he was not allowed to leave the country.”

Information about Ehsan’s death was transmitted through his mutual friends in Iran to his relatives outside the country. His body was identified by his mother, and according to sources close to him, due to the severity of injuries, identification was only possible through tattoos on his body.

On Friday, Ehsan’s friend learned through a radio interview with one of his sisters that Ehsan had been shot in the abdomen during the protests and was taken to the hospital by his friends. It is said that Ehsan was conscious at that time, but hours later, his family received word that Ehsan’s body had been found among other bodies in some location, with signs of injury to his face.

It should be noted that the Swedish Register of Population has not yet recorded any official information about the death of a resident of Västerås in Iran.

Meanwhile, the press service of Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs stated in a written response that the ministry has been informed of the death of a Swedish citizen in Iran, which reportedly occurred in January, and is gathering more information about this case. Due to consular confidentiality, further details have not been published in this regard.

In recent years, human rights organizations have repeatedly warned against the Islamic Republic’s widespread use of deadly violence against protesters and unarmed citizens. Multiple evidence shows that this government’s security forces have used deadly force against ordinary people during public protests without regard for human rights principles. Children, teenagers, young people, women, men, and the elderly have all been subject to suppression, and no distinction has been made between security objectives and defenseless citizens. For decades, multiple generations of young Iranians have lost their lives as a result of this system’s repressive policies and violent actions, without effective accountability or judicial justice being established.

Meanwhile, millions of Iranians outside the country follow with anxiety and concern the situation of their families and loved ones who now live in Iran and face the danger of arbitrary detention, torture, violence, forced disappearances, and organized suppression during protests. The continuation of this situation has raised serious concerns about systematic human rights violations and the impunity of perpetrators of these acts of violence.