Photo: BBC Persian
Armin Jashn Nejad
آرمین جشننژاد
2001–2026
- Born
- 18 November 2001
- Taken
- 9 January 2026
- Age
- 24 years old
- From
- Mahshahr, Khuzestan
Kept on this phone only. Nothing is sent.
Their life
Armin was born in Behbahan in November 2001, the third of four children, and grew up in the village of Haft Tappeh near Jayezan, in Khuzestan. He went to the village primary school, but the family was struggling, so he left school early and went to work in construction to support his parents.
A month before he was killed he had started as a labourer at the Salman Farsi petrochemical plant in Mahshahr, living in the workers' dormitory. He said openly what he thought of the Islamic Republic and its clerics, had argued with the village cleric and local Basij members, and posted criticism of the Supreme Leader on social media. On 8 January he went out to the protests in Mahshahr after work, despite the dormitory guards.
How the regime took them
On the evening of 9 January 2026 Armin argued his way past the dormitory security and went back to the protest on Farhangsara Street in Mahshahr. When the forces opened fire with tear gas, pellets and bullets, the protesters used a school door as a shield. Armin stepped out from behind it and was shot twice in the chest at close range by the police. He was dead before his friends got him to hospital.
The authorities told the family he had been stabbed by "thugs". When his father and uncle saw two bullet wounds, they were taken to an intelligence office and threatened. His chest had been cut open after his death to fit the stabbing story; the forensic office in Ahvaz later confirmed he was shot. Security forces buried him themselves at about 3:30 a.m. on 12 January, without letting the family hold a ceremony.
