By Maryam Dehkordi

IranWire

The Islamic Republic's authorities executed a protester early on Wednesday who had been convicted of killing a 10-year-old boy during the 2022 uprising, state media reported, despite the child’s family insisting that security forces were responsible for the death.

Mojahed Kourkour, also known as Abbas Kourkour, was hanged at dawn, according to the state-affiliated Daneshjoo News Agency.

The execution took place on what would have been the 11th birthday of Kian Pirfalak, the boy Kourkour was accused of killing.

Kourkour was arrested on December 20, 2022, during a raid in the village of Parsourakh near the southwestern city of Izeh. Two other men were killed in the operation.

An Ahvaz Revolutionary Court sentenced Kourkour to death in April 2023 on charges of "waging war against God" and "corruption on earth." Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the sentence in December.

In December 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling and sent the case for re-examination to a court of equal rank. Ultimately, in January 2025, he was sentenced to death again by Branch Three of the Ahvaz Revolutionary Court.

Iranian judiciary officials claimed that Kourkour shot and killed seven people, including Pirfalak, during protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022.

However, Pirfalak’s parents have repeatedly said that security forces were responsible for their son’s death.

The boy’s father, Meysam Pirfalak, said in a video that he and his wife witnessed security forces firing on their vehicle.

"I have not filed and will not file any complaint against Mojahed Kourkour," the father stated.

Kourkour is at least the 11th protester executed in connection with the 2022 demonstrations.

Rights groups report that defendants in protest-related cases have been denied fair trials and subjected to torture.

Kourkour’s family said he was held in solitary confinement for three months and denied access to a lawyer of his choosing.

His sister, who fled Iran after facing harassment, died of cancer in Germany while advocating for her brother’s release.