Iranian Regime Kills Protester Over Royal Tattoo Amid Crackdown, Journalist Sentenced to 15 Years

New testimony from Iran reveals the brutal killing of 29-year-old protester Farid Ramazani during the large-scale January demonstrations against the regime. According to opposition sources, Ramazani was shot multiple times by security forces in Tehran's Ariashahr neighborhood on January 8. Initially shot in the back, the forces then noticed a tattoo of the Pahlavi crown on his right hand, associated with the former Iranian monarchy, and deliberately tried to obscure it by shooting him again before delivering a fatal shot to his forehead at close range.

Following his death, authorities delayed releasing Ramazani's body for about two weeks, demanding payment for the bullets used against him and forbidding his burial in Tehran. Eventually, his family buried him in Hashjin, in the Khalkhal district of Ardabil province in northwest Iran. Other victims' families later held a memorial ceremony at his grave during the Nowruz holiday.

In a related development highlighting the regime's crackdown on dissent, renowned Iranian photojournalist Yalda Moayeri was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Moayeri, known for documenting protests and women's struggles in Iran, received the sentence under a law enacted after the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran over a year ago. The law targets alleged espionage and collaboration with hostile states. Moayeri was accused of giving interviews to media deemed hostile by the regime and sharing images with organizations linked to the US and Israel.

Moayeri described multiple raids by the Revolutionary Guards' intelligence unit on her home, confiscating her phones, computers, and even cameras she had owned since childhood. Despite repeated interrogations and the harsh sentence, she declared her commitment to continue documenting Iranian society's realities, stating, "The regime took everything from me; the only thing left is my truth and honesty as an observer."