On December 15, 2022, Maryam Esmailzadeh was shot dead by security agents in Tehran. HRANA has obtained documents and evidence about her death. Based on these documents and eyewitness statements, this report sheds light on this example of the regime’s atrocities and following cover-ups.
On Thursday, December 15, 2022, security forces killed Maryam Esmailzadeh, age 39, a resident of Tehran. They delivered her body to her family to bury her in Behesht Zahra cemetery under tightening security measures.
Her brother, Babak Esmailzadeh, told HRANA, “My sister left home located in Niavaran district in Tehran and after a while, they informed us that she had been killed. On that day, there was no protest in Niavaran. However, since my sister had participated actively in protests days before, we suspect that the security agents had identified her and hunted her down.”
“My sister was killed by three bullets in the chest and heart. They wrapped her body in a plastic cover and buried her in that wrap without allowing us to see the body. They forced us to announce cardiac arrest as the cause of her death on social media,” he added.
According to her brother, Esmailzadeh had contracted breast cancer. She worked as a nail implant designer.
HRANA estimates that at least 525 people have been killed at recent protests. For more details and statistics on the nationwide protest across Iran, read HRANA’s comprehensive report here.
