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Kian Pirfalak, a nine-year-old Iranian boy, was killed on November 16, 2022, in Izeh, Khuzestan province, during the crackdown on the Mahsa Amini protests. He was shot by government security forces while sitting in his parents' vehicle during an attack on the Izeh market. His father, Meysam Pirfalak, was critically injured in the same incident and hospitalized.
Kian's mother, Zeinab Moulai, and other family members who witnessed the event, explicitly blamed Iranian security forces for the attack, stating that agents opened fire on their car. The Islamic Republic news agencies, including IRNA, initially claimed ISIS terrorists were responsible, circulating a statement attributed to the group. However, BBC Monitoring investigated and concluded the statement was fake. Iranian authorities later attributed the deaths to four men, two of whom were killed by IRGC forces, and one, Abbas Mujahed Kurkur, was sentenced to death after being tortured to obtain a forced confession.
Kian's funeral saw hundreds gather, chanting anti-regime slogans. His family refused to keep his body at the morgue, fearing it would be stolen by security forces. At the ceremony, Kian's mother publicly criticized Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei through a poem, denying the government's narrative and stating, "Hear it from me about how the shooting happened so they can't say it was by terrorists, because they're lying."
Kian Pirfalak's killing sparked widespread outrage and an increase in nationwide protests, drawing international support. Following his funeral, Ruhollah Khomeini's childhood home, which served as a museum, was set on fire. UNICEF condemned the deaths and detention of children in Iran. A viral video of Kian testing his handmade boat, where he said, "in the name of the God of rainbows," turned this phrase into a symbol for memorials. Tragically, on June 11, 2023, Pouya Molaeirad, a relative of Kian's mother, was shot and killed by Iranian security agents at Kian's memorial service.