Parisa Bahmani

Parisa Bahmani (April 21, 2010 - October 27, 2022)

Parisa Bahmani, a general surgeon from Zanjan, lived during a period in which she had chosen medicine as a profession dedicated to serving human life. Yet her own life came to an end amid one of the most turbulent episodes in Iran’s contemporary history. She was born on April 21, 1970, and years later, on October 27, 2022, she died following events that took place during the 2022 uprising in Iran.
Bahmani was a physician who pursued a career in general surgery and remained associated with Zanjan, her hometown. After her death, however, her name moved beyond the boundaries of her personal and professional life and became associated with those who lost their lives during Iran’s nationwide protests in 2022.

Her Final Days

On October 26, 2022, a group of physicians gathered in front of the Iranian Medical Council building in Tehran. Parisa Bahmani was among those attending the gathering. According to published reports, the demonstration was confronted by security forces of the Islamic Republic, and Bahmani was attacked and seriously injured during the confrontation.

One day later, on October 27, 2022, her life came to an end.

From the outset, the circumstances surrounding Parisa Bahmani’s death were marked by a sharp discrepancy between published reports and the official account. Reports described her death as resulting from the actions of security forces during the gathering of physicians, a narrative emphasized by those close to her and by sources reporting on her death. Government officials, however, denied any connection between her death and the gathering outside the Iranian Medical Council.

The Government’s Official Account

The Tehran prosecutor stated that Parisa Bahmani’s death had no connection with the gatherings outside the Iranian Medical Council. This position formed part of the Islamic Republic’s official narrative concerning the deaths of protesters during the 2022 protests.
In numerous cases, officials of the Islamic Republic rejected reports concerning the deaths of protesters and attributed those deaths to causes such as falling from heights, suicide, poisoning, underlying illness, and traffic accidents. In cases where reports indicated that individuals had been killed by direct gunfire from security forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or the Basij, official institutions have also declined to confirm those accounts and, at times, have offered indirect explanations for the victims’ deaths.
Within this context, the official account concerning Parisa Bahmani likewise rejected any connection between her death and the gathering of physicians.

A Name That Remained

Parisa Bahmani lived from April 21, 1970, to October 27, 2022. Her life had been shaped by her choice of medicine and general surgery, and it ultimately came to an end during a period of profound unrest.
Her death is not merely a date on a calendar; it is a story caught between two conflicting accounts: on one side, reports that regard her death as the result of the confrontation between security forces and the gathering of physicians, and on the other, the official government narrative, which rejects such a connection.
What remains in history is not only the moment of death, but also the life, profession, identity, and unanswered questions that survive the death of a human being. Parisa Bahmani’s name has likewise remained part of the historical accounts of the 2022 uprising in Iran—as that of a physician from Zanjan who died on October 27, 2022.