University students killed in Iran protests rises to 25 after nine more deaths confirmed

Hengaw — Friday, January 23, 2026

At least nine university students, including one woman, were killed during protests across Iran by Iranian government forces in the cities of Tehran, Najafabad, Yazd, Kerman, Sari, and Shahrekord, raising the total to 25.

According to reports received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights and verified by it’s verification team, the identities of the nine students killed—eight men and one woman—have been confirmed as follows:

Killed on Thursday, January 8, 2026:

Artin Abdollahi, a Kurdish student from Sardasht, was killed during protests in Tehran after being shot directly by Iranian government forces. Sources told Hengaw that his family has been subjected to security pressure and threats to prevent them from publicly speaking about his killing or releasing further details.

Zahra Mahmoudpour, from Najafabad, ranked 146th in the master’s entrance exam and was a master’s student of electrical engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology. She was killed after being shot directly in the face.

Danial Diani, 24, from Kerman and a law student at Razi University of Kermanshah (Kermashan), was killed in Kerman. His body was buried on January 10.

Ahmadreza Ghaderi, a student of manufacturing and production engineering at Noshirvani University of Technology in Babol and a resident of Sari, was killed during protests in Sari.

Mohammadreza Alikhani, a 19-year-old Lor student from Shahrekord and a third-semester student at the city’s technical college, was shot in the head and neck by Iranian government forces at Aabi Square in Shahrekord. His body was released to his family under pressure from security authorities and only after his father signed a written pledge limiting funeral attendance to a maximum of ten people. He was buried at 11 p.m. in a nighttime ceremony. His death certificate lists the cause of death as “impact from a hard object to the head and neck,” a phrase commonly used in similar cases instead of explicitly citing gunfire.

Hamidreza Vatanjou, a 21-year-old from Isfahan and a history student at Farhangian University of Isfahan, was killed after being shot directly by Iranian government forces.

Alireza Yazdani, a 19-year-old from Falavarjan in Isfahan Province and a computer science student at Najafabad University, was shot in the head with a military weapon during protests in Falavarjan. His body was handed over to his family after one week, and his burial was conducted at night.

Killed on Friday, January 9, 2026:

Sina Kazemi, a 22-year-old athlete and guitarist from Tehran and an eighth-semester software engineering student, was shot in the back by Iranian government forces in the Tehranpars area. His family was informed of his death six days later.

Mostafa Sarafraz Ardakani, a mechanical engineering student at Yazd University and one of the university’s top-ranked students, was killed by Iranian government forces in Yazd on the same day.

According to data recorded by Hengaw’s Statistics and Documentation Center, at least 25 university students, including five women, have been killed during the recent protests.