Cartoon by Jamal Rahmati

Iranian Diaspora Marks Birthday Of Child Murdered By Regime Forces

Iran International: On the birthday of Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old child killed during anti-regime protests, and a symbol of regime brutality, Iranians abroad held rallies in several countries.

Kian would have turned 10 on June 11 this year, but on the evening of November 16 last year, the family car carrying Kian, his parents, and three-year-old brother Radin was targeted by plainclothesmen in Izeh, a town of around 100,000 in the southwestern oil-rich Khuzestan Province.

Kian’s father was also seriously wounded in the shooting and paralyzed. Authorities claim the family car was attacked by “terrorists”.

The videos received by Iran International show Iranians living in Austria celebrating Kian's birthday by holding a program in Graz on Saturday.

In Sweden, the Iranian diaspora held rallies in Stockholm and Gothenburg to celebrate the birthday of the murdered child.

Similar events were also staged in Copenhagen, Hamburg, Washington, Montreal, Brisbane and several other cities.

On Friday, a group of Iranians living in the UK also marked Kian's birthday by gathering outside the Foreign Office. They urged the British government to fully sanction Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the IRGC, that leads all repressive military and paramilitary forces in Iran.

Earlier, activists had issued several calls to hold global gatherings on the anniversary of Kian Pirfalak's birthday.

Social media users welcomed Kian’s birthday with the hashtag "rememberingkian" and publishing his photos.

Mahmonir Molaei-Rad, Kian's mother, previously wrote on her Instagram that the security forces raided the house of one of their friends taking away "all the items they had prepared to celebrate Kian's birthday."