Samira says she was not particularly political before Iranian security forces shot and killed her only child, 16-year-old Sevda, during mass protests on 9 January. She now lives abroad in hiding and describes herself as a “one-woman army” seeking accountability for her daughter’s death.
The demonstrations had begun the previous month amid economic discontent before developing into broader calls for an end to Iran’s Islamic Republic. Sevda, according to her mother, was inspired by Mahsa Amini and Nika Shakarami, two young women whose deaths became symbols of earlier protests over Iran’s mandatory headscarf rules.
Samira says Sevda was leading a chant when a sniper fired from the roof of a nearby building. The bullet went through her daughter’s heart, she told BBC Panorama. Samira took Sevda to hospital, but says she later found her in a body bag and had to search through a Tehran morgue to recover her remains.
She says three bodies had been placed on top of Sevda’s. Iranian authorities acknowledge that more than 3,000 people died during the protests, while the human rights group Hrana estimates that the death toll exceeded 7,000, with most victims being protesters.
According to Samira, officials told families they would have to blame “terrorists” rather than security forces if they wanted to collect their relatives’ bodies. She also says she was barred from visiting Sevda’s grave and was later summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence.
Samira claims officials offered to declare Sevda a martyr and provide benefits, including a house, if she said her daughter had been a member of the Basij and had been killed by protesters. She refused, saying she did not want to “trade with my child’s blood”, and left Iran after the 40-day mourning period.
People smugglers helped her cross rivers and mountains to escape. From abroad, she continued speaking to foreign media. She says Iranian authorities subsequently charged her in absentia with several offences, including “moharebeh”, or waging war against God, a charge that can carry the death penalty.
Samira says security forces later raided a vigil held in Iran for what would have been Sevda’s 17th birthday. Relatives and friends were arrested, she claims, and her family was warned that Sevda’s body could be exhumed and moved if they continued gathering at her grave.
She now publishes the names of security personnel and officials she believes were involved in the fatal shootings during the January protests. After one man she named was later found dead, a regime supporter offered a $5,000 reward for information about her whereabouts. Iranian state media reported that nine people had been arrested in connection with the death.
The Iranian embassy in London told Panorama that peaceful protests had been taken over by foreign powers, including the United States, which it accused of promoting violence and compromising public security.
Samira says the loss of Sevda has left her devastated but also strengthened her determination to continue. She wants those she identifies as responsible to be brought to trial and says she will keep opposing the Islamic Republic “until my last breath”.
Sources: BBC News World.