Body of Kurdish protester Soroush Karami identified nearly seven months after his death
Hengaw – Tuesday, July 28, 2026
The body of Soroush Karami, an 18-year-old Kurdish protester killed during Iran's January 2026 protests in Kermanshah, has been identified nearly seven months after his death following a mistaken burial that left his remains buried under another victim's name. The discovery also revealed that the body of another protest victim, Amirali Heydari, had remained in an unmarked grave throughout that period.
According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Iranian security forces fatally shot Soroush Karami on Thursday, January 8, 2026, during the crackdown on protests in Kermanshah.
Hengaw has learned that in the aftermath of the crackdown, Karami's body was mistakenly handed over to the family of another protest victim, Amirali Heydari. Believing it to be their son's body, the Heydari family buried Karami in the village of Sarabeleh.
After nearly seven months of persistent efforts by the Karami family, authorities exhumed the grave on Monday, July 27, 2026, in the presence of both families, representatives of the prosecutor's office, and forensic officials. The exhumation confirmed that the body belonged to Soroush Karami. It also established that Amirali Heydari's body had remained buried in an unmarked grave throughout that period.
Sources close to the Karami family told Hengaw that Iranian security agencies subjected the family to intense pressure to portray the 18-year-old protester as a government agent killed during the protests and to publish his funeral notices under that description.
Several human rights groups had previously published reports claiming that Karami had been arrested, charged with "moharebeh" (enmity against God), and was at risk of execution in Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah. Hengaw's investigation established that those reports were false. Karami had in fact been killed by direct gunfire from Iranian security forces on January 8, 2026, and no prisoner matching his identity had been held at Dizel Abad Prison.
Karami is scheduled to be laid to rest on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in his hometown of Lanjab village in Songhor County.
