UNICEF concerned over children's death in Iran

Raising its concern over the death of children in the ongoing protest in Iran, the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, said in a statement on Friday, that the reported deaths of children at anti-government protests "must stop."

An "estimated 50 children have reportedly lost their lives in the public unrest in Iran," UNICEF said in the statement.

This comes as the unrest in Iran has continued for more than two months, and amid increasing calls from protesters and activists online to UNICEF, Amnesty International, and other human rights organizations to take action on human rights violations and crimes against children taking place in Iran.

"They just say, hey, Islamic Republic, what are you doing is bad," one protester in Iran told CNN. "Yes, everybody knows it's bad. Three-year-old children know it's bad, but we need actual action. Do something. I don't know. I believe they know better than us what they can do."

"In Iran, UNICEF remains deeply concerned by reports of children being killed, injured, and detained," the statement read, citing the death of a young boy named Kian Pirfalak, one of seven people killed during Wednesday's protests in the southwestern city of Izeh. "This is terrifying and must stop," the organization added.

UNICEF reported Pirfalak's age as 10 years old. Iranian state media has reported his age as nine, reported CNN.

The child travelling in a car on Wednesday with his family when he was shot dead and his father injured by gunfire, his mother told state media in an interview with Tasnim Friday.

According to Iran's state-aligned news agency ISNA, protesters set a seminary on fire around the same time as people were shot and killed in Izeh in what state media outlets are calling a "terror attack."

Activists are accusing the Iranian regime of killing Kian and others in Izeh, reported CNN.

The Islamic Republic is facing one of the biggest and unprecedented shows of dissent in recent history following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman detained by the morality police allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

At least 378 people have been killed since demonstrations began, according to an Iranian human rights group, as the country's Supreme Leader issued a warning that the protest movement is "doomed to failure."

The organization Iran Human Rights published the estimated death toll Saturday, adding that it includes 47 children killed by security forces, reported CNN.

Video shared by activist group 1500 Tasvir and others showed a large crowd gathered for Pirfalak funeral in his hometown in Izeh Friday.

Surrounded by mourners, his mother Zeynab Molaeirad is heard singing a children's song, replacing the lyrics with words against Ayatollah Khamenei and the regime. She then reveals new details about the fatal incident, according to a video shared on social media, reported CNN.

"Hear what really happened to Kian from my mouth," she told the crowd, "So the regime doesn't lie and say it was a terrorist."

Molaeirad, who was traveling with her family in their car, said people on the street yelled at the vehicle to turn back and that her son told his father not to worry.

"Kian said: 'Baba trust the police for once and turn around, they are looking out for us,'" she said.

His father made a U-turn and drove towards the police, his mother said. But "because the car windows were rolled up, the police thought we may have wanted to shoot at them," she said.

"They opened a barrage of fire on the car."

Kian's mother also posted a photo with her son in her Instagram post. "My broken flower. Curse on the Islamic Republic," she wrote.

Human rights groups have accused Iranian authorities of scaring victims' families to silence. Iranian authorities are "systematically harassing and intimidating victims' families to hide the truth" of their deaths, as Amnesty International's Heba Morayef said in a recent report.

The United Nations on Friday said it was "deeply worried about growing violence related to the ongoing popular protests in Iran," said deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Farhan Haq.

"We condemn all incidents that have resulted in death or serious injury, including the shooting in the city of Izeh on 16 November 2022. We are also concerned about the reported issuance of death sentences against five unnamed individuals in the context of the latest protests," Haq said.

Despite the UN's condemnation, Iranians have been highly critical of the global organization and its agencies, saying that its words are not enough and that there is a lack of action against human rights violations taking place in Iran.