According to received reports, Mehdi Karimi, a resident of Gotvand in the Ahwaz region (Khuzestan province), was killed on the night of January 19 at approximately 10:30 p.m. after being shot directly in the head by Islamic Republic security forces.
Sources close to the family report that following Mehdi Karimi’s killing, his body was taken into custody by security authorities, and his family was subjected to pressure and threats in order to retrieve it. According to these reports, the family was told that the body would only be released if Mehdi Karimi were officially presented as a “martyr of the Islamic Republic.” They were also warned that if any slogans were chanted or protests occurred during the funeral, the body would be confiscated again.
Ultimately, after the family was forced to sign written commitments and provide coerced confessions, Mehdi Karimi’s body was buried in the early hours of January 22, around 6:00 a.m., under a heavy security presence, in silence and without public notification, with only a small number of close relatives allowed to attend.
