Omid Sarlak anniversary: Islamic Republic flags burned in his memory

Prince Reza Pahlavi's media office released a video of about two and a half minutes on the evening of Saturday 31 October 2026, on the eve of the first anniversary of the death of Omid Sarlak, which according to the office shows Iranians setting fire to the Islamic Republic's flag in his memory.

In the message accompanying the video, the Prince's office called Omid Sarlak's death a "state murder" and wrote that on 1 November 2025, after he burned a picture of Ali Khamenei and posted it on Instagram, he was abducted and killed by agents of the Islamic Republic. The message said: "Iran's youth honour his memory and continue his path." The Prince's office called the Islamic Republic's flag the flag of an "un-Iranian and anti-Iranian regime".

Who Omid Sarlak was

Omid Sarlak, a young man from Aligudarz in Lorestan province, posted a video on Instagram in autumn 2025 of himself burning a picture of Ali Khamenei to the voice of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and wrote "Death to Khamenei" in another story. On his page he had spoken of his support for the Pahlavi era. Some time later his lifeless body was found.

Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), attributed his death to "a broken heart" and claimed he had himself announced an intention to take his own life, a claim no independent evidence has confirmed. The US State Department called his death "horrific" at the time and said its circumstances pointed to the Islamic Republic's involvement. At his funeral, mourners chanted against Khamenei, and citizens in several cities showed solidarity with him by posting videos of themselves burning pictures of Khamenei and Khomeini.

Pressure on the family ahead of the anniversary

On Thursday the Prince's office had released a video of Omid Sarlak's mother at her son's grave. In it she said she had been summoned four times by the intelligence office and that the family had not been allowed to hold an anniversary ceremony; DIAR's earlier report gave details of these summonses. In that message the Prince's office had asked compatriots not to leave grieving families alone.

Prince Reza Pahlavi's office called Omid Sarlak's death a state murder and said Iran's youth will continue his path.