From Grief to Defiance: Iranian Mother Confronts Regime After Daughter’s Death

Sevda died on January 9 while participating in mass demonstrations on the outskirts of Tehran alongside her mother, Samira. The protests, which began the previous month over economic grievances, had evolved into demands to dismantle Iran’s Islamic Republic.

Samira says she was not particularly political at the time, but her daughter was. Sevda looked up to Mahsa Amini, whose death in custody following an alleged headscarf violation sparked nationwide protests, and Nika Shakarami, who was killed during a later uprising against Iran’s mandatory dress code for women.

“She kept their memory alive and always wanted to follow in their footsteps,” Samira says.

Protest turnout had been especially high the day before Sevda was killed. Samira says she and her daughter heeded a call from Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, to demonstrate.

“The security forces had lost control,” she says.

The large crowds unnerved Iran’s government, and a shoot-to-kill order was announced the next day, according to Samira. She had dismissed it as an empty threat.

“They lie so much in Iran… We never imagined a massacre on that scale.”

She says they were also reassured by U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to support them.

Speaking to U.S. media on January 8, he said: “I have let [the Iranian authorities] know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots… we’re going to hit them very hard.”

Nevertheless, Samira says the crowds appeared smaller on the 9th.

Sevda seemed aware of the danger, Samira says. Her daughter removed her earrings and gave them to her grandmother, and shared her phone passcode with Samira.

The mother and daughter joined the other protesters. Sevda then stood on a trash bin and began leading a chant.

“There appeared to be more security forces than protesters,” Samira says of the area. “I don’t know how, in just one day, they amassed so many… Basij and IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] forces.”

The IRGC defends Iran’s Islamic establishment, while the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force consists of volunteers serving under the IRGC.

“A sniper fired from the roof of a building to our right. The bullet came from the rooftop and pierced her heart. I couldn’t even scream. I just stared at Sevda—her body lying lifeless, blood gushing from her mouth and nose. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe she was dying. Her eyes were still fixed on me.”

Samira says she managed to get Sevda to a hospital and was told she was undergoing surgery. But when the door opened, she saw Sevda had been zipped into a body bag.

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