Shaho Khazri

Shaho Khazri (December 3, 2001 – October 27, 2022)

Shaho Khazri, the son of Rahman and Ameneh, was born on December 3, 2001, in Mahabad, Iran. He was a 21-year-old young man who owned a mobile phone shop in Sardar Passage in Mahabad. Friends and relatives described him as kind, hardworking, and deeply connected to his community.
In 2022, as nationwide protests spread across Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, Shaho joined many other young people in Mahabad who took part in demonstrations against the government. On Thursday, October 27, 2022, after the funeral ceremony of Esmail “Semko” Moloudi — one of the protesters killed during the uprising — thousands of people gathered in the streets of Mahabad. Security forces of the Islamic Republic responded with live ammunition, tear gas, and violent repression.
That same day, Eman Abdi, a citizen journalist and civil activist from Mahabad who later fled Iran, was alongside Shaho during the protests. Eman had begun his social activism in 2017 after the Kermanshah earthquake, helping victims and later documenting social and political events. During the 2022 protests, he worked to report events and assist injured protesters.
Eman later described the final moments before Shaho was killed. Around 1:00 PM, near Hafez Junction in Mahabad, they were trapped between several groups of security forces while trying to guide protesters toward safer routes. Tear gas filled the streets, and Shaho’s eyes began burning intensely. Eman lit a cigarette to help ease the pain from the gas, and moments later the two switched places.
Seconds later, a gunshot rang out.
Eman recalled hearing the bullet cut through the air beside his ear. When he turned around, Shaho had collapsed onto the ground. The bullet had struck him directly in the face.
Shaho Khazri was critically wounded by a live Kalashnikov round and died before reaching Imam Khomeini Hospital in Mahabad. On the same day, two other protesters — Kobra Sheikhah and Zanyar Abubakri — were also killed by government gunfire.
The shock of witnessing Shaho’s death deeply affected Eman Abdi. He later said he remained frozen in disbelief and did not even realize that shotgun pellets had struck his own hands and fingers. In later interviews, he spoke repeatedly about the guilt he carried afterward, saying: “Sometimes I think if we had not changed places, maybe I would have died and Shaho would still be alive.”
After Shaho’s body was transferred to the hospital, his family feared that security forces might seize his body. According to relatives, security agents searched homes in an attempt to locate him. His family secretly removed his body from the hospital and transferred him to the village of Shilanabad near Mahabad, where he was buried.
Shaho Khazri’s funeral turned into another large anti-government gathering, with crowds chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic. For many people in Mahabad, Shaho became a symbol of a generation that lost its life demanding freedom and dignity.
After his death, his family reportedly faced pressure and repeated summons from security institutions. According to informed sources, authorities suggested registering Shaho as a martyr under the state’s Foundation of Martyrs organization, but the family rejected the proposal. Five months later, after persistent efforts, the family finally obtained the forensic report. The official cause of death was vaguely listed as “impact from sharp and hard objects.”
Eman Abdi, who himself had previously been arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned for his activism, later wrote about Shaho: “He lost his life on the path to freedom.”
That sentence became one of the enduring memories associated with Shaho Khazri — a young man who was killed by direct gunfire during the 2022 protests in Mahabad, and whose name remains among the victims of Iran’s uprising for freedom.