Omid Sarlak's mother summoned four times by intelligence; anniversary banned

The mother of Omid Sarlak, a young man from Aligudarz who died last November after setting fire to a picture of Ali Khamenei, says at her son's grave that she has been summoned "four times" to the local intelligence office. She speaks in a video released early on Saturday, 31 October 2026, by the media office of Prince Reza Pahlavi. According to her, the Islamic Republic's security bodies have not allowed the family to hold a ceremony for Omid's first anniversary.

The ban comes on the eve of the anniversary of his death. Omid Sarlak's body was found on 2 November 2025 in Lorestan province, a few days after a video of him was published in which he set fire to a picture of Ali Khamenei while the voice of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi could be heard over it.

Message from Prince Reza Pahlavi's office

Alongside the video, Prince Reza Pahlavi's media office urged people not to leave families seeking justice alone. The message said that, as Prince Reza Pahlavi has stressed before, the nation's kindness, empathy and gratitude must be shown to the families who lost their loved ones on the path to Iran's freedom. His office called the memory of these young people a shining torch for Iran's tomorrow.

The authorities' account and the family's account

After Omid Sarlak's body was found, officials and state media described his death as "suicide" following an "emotional setback". His family rejected that account and said Omid had been killed. The US State Department also said at the time that the circumstances of his death pointed to the Islamic Republic's involvement.

After his death, a number of civil activists and social media users in several cities who had written about Omid Sarlak were summoned and threatened by security bodies.

A pattern of pressure on families seeking justice

The summoning of Omid Sarlak's mother continues the pressure the Islamic Republic puts on the families of fallen protesters: bans on anniversary ceremonies, repeated summonses and threats, so that the memory of their children does not turn into a protest gathering. DIAR has previously reported on the last words of Jalil Milanlouei, a fallen protester from Esfarayen and on the death of 17-year-old Omid Ghanouni in custody and the arrests that followed in Khansar.

Omid Sarlak's mother says she has been summoned four times to the intelligence office and the authorities have banned her son's anniversary.