Referee and student among hundreds killed in Iran protests

3 hours agoGhoncheh Habibiazad,BBC News PersianandJessica RawnsleyA referee and a student are among hundreds of people reportedly killed during massive anti-government protests in Iran.Coach Amir Mohammad Koohkan, 26, was hit by live ammunition on 3 January during protests in the town of Neyriz, his friend told BBC Persian."Everyone knew him for his kindness", they said, adding his family is grieving and "angry because he was killed by the regime".Five days later, student Rubina Aminian, 23, was shot from behind during a protest in Tehran, according to human rights groups. "She fought for things she knew were right", her uncle told CNN.Nearly 500 protesters and 48 security personnel have been killed in two weeks of protests, a US-based rights group says.Sources in Iran have told the BBC the death toll is likely higher than reported.Demonstrations began on 28 December over the economy in the capital Tehran and have spread to 186 cities and all 31 provinces, according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA).The protests have grown into the largest in years, with calls for an end to the Islamic Republic and rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The protests led to a government crackdown, with at least 10,600 people reportedly arrested and 496 protesters killed, according to HRANA.Medical staff in Iran have described hospitals overwhelmed with dead and injured patients. BBC Persian verified that 70 bodies were brought to Poursina Hospital in Rasht city on 9 January, and the BBC counted 180 body bags in footage from one morgue near Tehran thought to have been filmed on the same night.The BBC and most other international news organisations are unable to report from inside Iran, and the Iranian government has imposed an internet shutdown since Thursday, making obtaining and verifying information difficult.Among the protest victims was Koohkan, who was killed in Neyriz in south-west Fars Province, his friend told BBC Persian. The friend did not witness the incident firsthand, but heard from eyewitnesses at the scene."It was far too soon for him, really far too soon. He was so young," the friend said.The friend said they had known Koohkan, an indoor futsal (a form of football) coach and referee, for 10 years: "From childhood he was my coach, then he became like my brother."They described Koohkan, who had one brother, as "someone who didn't like to see people in this state... in this misery"."Everyone knew him for his kindness and good nature. The whole town loved him," his friend said. "The family are both grieving and angry. Grieving because they lost their son, angry because he was killed by the regime."Also killed was Aminian, a Kurdish student who was shot from behind while taking part in a protest on Thursday, according to three rights groups.Two groups - Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and Kurdish organisation Hengaw - said she was shot in the head, while the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said she was shot in the back. Both Kurdish groups said she was shot by government forces.The BBC has been unable to independently verify the circumstances of her death.The 23-year-old, whose first name has also been spelled Robina or Roubina, was studying textile and fashion at Shariati Technical and Vocational College in Tehran, IHRNGO said."She was a strong girl, a courageous girl, and she was not someone you could control and make decisions for," her uncle told CNN. "She fought for things she knew were right and fought hard."He added that she was "thirsty for freedom, thirsty for women's rights". "Overall, she was a girl who was alive, who lived."Members of Aminian's family travelled from their hometown in Kermanshah, western Iran, to Tehran to identify her body after learning of her death, a source close to the family told INRNGO.The family had to search through hundreds of bodies of young people killed in the protests at a location close to her college, the source said."It wasn't just my daughter; I saw hundreds of bodies with my own eyes," Aminian's mother said, in a statement from the source.Iranian authorities allegedly initially refused to hand over Aminian's body to her family, then prevented her burial or mourning ceremonies in their hometown, the source said.The family was reportedly forced to bury her along the road between Kermanshah and Kamyaran.Iranian leader Khamenei has called anti-government protesters "troublemakers," while US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene and said the US military is considering "very strong options".Iran has also accused protesters of being backed by the US and Israel.The protests have been the most widespread since an uprising in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.Then, more than 550 people were killed and 20,000 detained, according to human rights groups.