Teenager shot dead as Iran conflict escalates

Abolfazl Adinezadeh was sprayed in the stomach with 24 bullets, becoming the latest person to be killed in a wave of demonstrations sweeping the country.

Abolfazl Adinezadeh was sprayed in the stomach with 24 bullets, becoming the latest person to be killed in a wave of demonstrations sweeping the country.

A 17-year-old boy who skipped school to take part in a protest and was shot dead by Iranian security forces is one of the latest victims of a wave of demonstrations sweeping the country.

Abolfazl Adinezadeh was hit by 24 birdshot pellets in the northern city of Mashhad. He died of injuries to his liver and kidneys, according to a death certificate obtained by the BBC. A doctor believed the shots had been fired from 3ft away.

“What crime had he committed, that you sprayed his stomach with 24 birdshot?” his father cried out at his funeral in a video posted online.

At least 200 people are said to have been killed in protests since the death in custody last month of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for not wearing her head covering, or hijab, properly. Her family and supporters believe she was beaten to death. The authorities said she died of an existing health condition.

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A protester is seen cutting her hair during the new protest against Islamic regime in Iran. Picture: Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Of the dead, Amnesty International said that at least 23 were under the age of 18, with some Iranian exile groups putting the figure even higher. Girls’ schools have been a focus of protests, with pupils taking off head scarves and waving them.

Abolfazl was still at school and worked part-time in the evenings at a shop repairing mobile phones. He is believed to have joined protests outside Ferdowsi University in Mashhad last week. He is thought to have been hit by shots fired from a tunnel. His parents heard nothing from him until the authorities asked them to retrieve his body from a police station.

I’m running out of words to describe my astonishment. Just over 3 weeks after #MahsaAmini’s death, women are defiantly walking on the streets of #Tehran, with no hijab…while cars are honking in their supports. Mahsa couldn’t have imagined how she changed life for many Iranians. pic.twitter.com/o6zRJn06WP

— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) October 9, 2022

The BBC aired allegations that the family had been warned not to talk to the media, and that the authorities tried to persuade them to claim that their son had been a member of the basij, the paramilitary police force, and was killed by protesters.

Plain-clothes security forces attended his funeral, seizing a photograph of him from his aunt, removing phones from mourners and forcing them to delete videos.