According to reports obtained by IranWire, Amirhossein Mohammadzadeh, an 18-year-old footballer with Tehran’s Delvar Afraz youth team, was shot dead by Islamic Republic security forces during protests in the Afsariyeh area of the capital.

Earlier, Milad Zandipour, a former footballer for the Foulad and Saipa teams, wrote about Mohammadzadeh, saying that “amid a complete news blackout, the authorities fabricated a case against him and handed over his lifeless body to the family only on the condition that they declare Amirhossein was a member of the Basij force. The family was threatened, forced into silence, and barred from speaking out or protesting.”

According to Zandipour, Amirhossein was buried in Section 42, known as the “Martyrs’ Section,” alongside those killed in the so-called “12-Day War,” “without the truth being told and without justice being served.”

Since protests began in Iran in December, numerous reports have surfaced of security forces trying to present slain protesters as “martyrs” or members of the Basij.

One such case involves Amirhesam Khodayari, a young man killed in Kuhdasht, in Lorestan province. Despite a statement issued by the Revolutionary Guards, his father publicly declared at the funeral that his son was not a Basiji, but a protester.

Amirhesam, 22, was killed by gunfire from Islamic Republic forces on Wednesday, December 31, during protests in Kuhdasht.