Abolfazl Amir Ataei, a 16-year-old teenager in the Iranian capital of Tehran, died on Friday, May 26, after being in a coma for eight months. He was shot and severely wounded on September 21, 2022, during Iran’s nationwide protests as Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) units in Shahr-e Ray (south of Tehran) opened fire on demonstrators.
Abolfazl was directly hit at close range by a tear gas canister fired by security forces, hitting the left side of his head. As a result of the inflicted wounds, Abolfazl completely lost his mobility and speech, and was kept hospitalized during this period.
After undergoing several surgers Abolfazl regained consciousness following an eight-month long coma. Unfortuntaely, he died due to the severity of his wounds on May 26.
Maryam, Abolfazl’s mother, confirmed the passing of her son.
According to reports from locals and activists, on the night of September 21, 2022 in Namaz Square of Shahr-e Ray, members of the regime’s special forces surrounded protesters in the streetsand opened fire using with tear gas from a very close distance while the protesters were trapped among the security forces. It was reported that they directly a shot tear gas canister at the head of Abolfazl. As a result half of his skull was gone, leading to his death eight months later.
According to a report by the regime’s Rouydad24 News Agency: “After being in a coma for several months, Abolfazl regained consciousness but eventually lost his life. Some sources had reported that this teenager’s skull was damaged due to a bullet shot. It has been said on social media networks that a tear gas canister had directly hit Amir Ataei’s skull.”
It is worth noting that the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) had in a statement mentioned the death of a wounded individual in the city of Sanandaj, the provincial capital of Kurdistan in western Iran, during the uprising, as well as the deaths of four imprisoned individuals under torture in the cities of Urmia, Gachsaran, Karaj, and Isfahan.
On Thursday, March 15, Shirzad Ahmadi, a 31-year-old resident of Bukan in northwest Iran, was abducted by the regime’s security forces on February 15 and died under torture in the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center in Urmia. The regime refrained from handing over his body to his family.
Mohammad Aryan Khoshgavar, an 18-year-old young man who was injured and fell into a coma after being stabbed by regime motorcyclists during the 40th day memorial ceremony for uprising martyrs in the Haji Abaab neighborhood of Sanandaj on November 17, 2022, passed away on March 14, after four months.
Mohsen Shojaei Borjouei, arrested on November 3, 2022, during the 40th day memorial ceremony for Mahsa Mogouei in Fooladshahr of Isfahan Province, fell into coma due to brutal torture, passed away on March 9 in the city’s Khorshid Hospital. The funeral ceremony of Mohsen Shojai was held on March 10, in Fooladshahrwith a large number of people attending.
One of the detainees of the uprising by the name of Amir Hemat Azad was arrested during the protests and fell into a coma due to baton blows to his head. He passed away three months later on March 9 in Rajaei Hospital of Karaj. Security forces have threatened his family to attribute his cause of death to a heart attack or cerebral hemorrhage.
Sadegh Fouladi Vanda, a resident of Gachsaran in southwest Iran, was abducted by IRGC intelligence agents on February 3. He was found in a water channel on February 21 with his hands and feet tied, and je was severely injured. Sadegh Fouladi Vanda was an athlete and a child labor activist.
