Father of Sepehr Shokri, killed in the Dey uprising, demands accountability for the killings of 8 and 9 January

Esmail Shokri, father of Sepehr Shokri, a 25-year-old from Tehran who was killed by the fire of repressive forces during the Dey uprising of January 2026, called on Islamic Republic officials in a new video on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, to say what they did to the young protesters on the nights of 8 and 9 January and why they are hiding the scale of the killings.

Referring to the recent protests in France, he said in the video that in a country the Islamic Republic calls the "wild West", protesters were not killed, while in Iran unarmed young people were targeted with live ammunition. Esmail Shokri also said officials themselves have admitted that the wounded were given a coup de grâce in hospitals; a claim made by this father seeking justice that no independent body has yet confirmed in detail. He criticised Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials for corruption and for being out of touch with people's lives, and said he is proud of his son.

"Sepehr, where are you, son?": the video that became a symbol of the Dey uprising

Sepehr Shokri was shot on the evening of 8 January 2026 on Nabard Street in Tehran. His father then searched for his son among the bodies of those killed at the Kahrizak forensic medicine centre, and the 12-minute video of that search, in which he calls his son's name again and again, became one of the symbols of the Dey uprising. After the video was released, the Islamic Republic's state broadcaster tried to distort the family's account.

Esmail Shokri was arrested by security forces at his son's grave in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery on 21 March 2026, the first day of the Iranian new year, and was released a few hours later. Before that, according to human rights organisations, agents had beaten those gathered at Sepehr's grave, including his mother, on 19 March 2026.

Other voices of families seeking justice

At the same time, the mother of Parnian Dabiri, who was killed in the Dey uprising, criticised the Islamic Republic's double standard towards students who were killed, in a video sent by citizens to independent media on Wednesday. Referring to the regime's billboards about the children of Minab, she asked why no placard was raised for the students who lost their lives in the Dey uprising. According to her, families are under pressure to stay silent and have been asked to present their children as "martyrs" of the regime; a request she has refused.

These remarks come as families seeking justice for those killed in the Dey uprising have repeatedly reported threats and summonses for visiting their children's graves; DIAR earlier reported one family's account of being threatened with a summons and a gathering of mothers seeking justice in Gilan.

Nine months after searching for his son at Kahrizak, Sepehr Shokri's father still wants an answer: what happened to Iran's young people on the nights of 8 and 9 January.