Identities of four protesters killed in Mashhad and Sabzevar confirmed

Hengaw – Sunday, January 18, 2026

Four civilians, Morteza Shaneh, Parsa Saffar, Hamid Mahdavi, and Abbasali Ramezani, were killed by direct gunfire from forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran during popular protests in the cities of Sabzevar and Mashhad.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Morteza Shaneh, 32, was killed on Saturday, January 10, 2026, during protests in the Masoudiyeh district of Sabzevar after being shot by government repressive forces.

On the same night, Parsa Saffar, a graduate of Iran’s National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents and a fifth-year medical student at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, was killed during protests in Mashhad after being struck by live ammunition.
According to informed sources, Saffar had been admitted to medical school with a national entrance exam rank of 348.

Hengaw has also verified the identities of two other civilians who were killed during the mass killing of protesters in Mashhad on January 8, as follows:

Hamid Mahdavi, 38, a firefighter and resident of Mashhad, was killed during protests on Vakilabad Street after being shot by government forces.

Additionally, Abbasali Ramezani, a former political prisoner from the 1980s, was killed during protests in Mashhad after being struck directly by gunfire. According to informed sources, he was shot by government forces while participating in the protests under electronic ankle monitoring, which had been imposed as part of a prior judicial sentence.

Abbasali Ramezani had previously been subjected to multiple security-related arrests. According to reports, in one case he was detained to serve a three-year and seven-month prison sentence issued by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court on charges including financial support for the families of political prisoners and propaganda against the state.