Erfan Rezaei was taking part in street protests in the northern Iranian city of Amol when he was shot and killed.
Eight months later, the 21-year-old's family is still seeking justice, despite threats and intimidation from the authorities.
Rezaei is among the at least 500 protesters that rights groups say were killed in the state's brutal crackdown on the antiestablishment protests that erupted in September 2022. The demonstrations are the biggest threat to Iran's clerical regime in decades.
The authorities told Rezaei's family that the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization, an exiled opposition group, might have been involved in his killing, without providing evidence. But eyewitnesses told the family that government security forces shot and killed the young man on the street.
"I want justice for Erfan," Farzaneh Barzekar told RFE/RL by telephone. "I raised my child in very tough conditions. I suffered so that my child could be successful. They took everything from me."
The mother of two described her son as a lively and strong young man who "could have lived for another 50 years."
"But they took him from me," added the 42-year-old, who spent years looking after her ex-husband, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War who was exposed to chemical weapons and suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
Barzekar recalls the day Rezaei was killed. The streets were ringing with gunfire and choking with smoke. When she called her son, he said he was taking a walk.
But hours later, the...
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