Family of Iranian protester forced to 'pay for the bullet that killed their son'

"They had to pay for the bullet that killed their son," Nasrin says with a mix of anger and disbelief.

She's telling me the painful details of the day her nephew, Hooman, was killed during recent protests in Iran.

The 37-year-old had joined demonstrations against the regime in Lahijan, in the north of the country, when his family says he was fatally shot by government forces in early January.

"Hooman took to the streets without a weapon. He didn't even have a small rock in his pockets to defend himself, but he was shot with a military bullet," his aunt says.

Her distress is palpable.

Throughout the interview she oscillates between heartbreak and utter exhaustion at her powerlessness.

Now living in Germany, Nasrin explains it isn't safe for her to return to Iran so she cannot hold her family as they grieve.

All she has left of Hooman is a framed photo which she kisses as she cries.

Following her nephew's death, she explains his relatives went to collect his body but were told it had been moved to the city of Rasht, a place where authorities are also accused of a violent crackdown on protesters.

Nasrin says a friend in the city told her the bazaar was set on fire and when protesters ran from the flames, security forces opened fire.

After the blaze, government-backed Iranian state TV aired drone footage of the aftermath which it said showed the scene "three days after the terrorist incident of the Rasht bazaar fire".

Nasrin says when her family finally arrived at the place where Hooman's body was being stored many other grieving families were already there.

"They saw so many people crying, all screaming, suffering in every way possible," she explains.

"There were several containers. They said the body was in the containers. When they opened the doors, there were several corpses stacked on top of each other. They had to look for their son."

She claims her relatives were told to bury Hooman immediately and had to sign a document when they left saying that they couldn't talk about what had happened.

"They had to pay money for the bullet that killed their son," she adds.

Hooman had been married for three years when he died.

His young wife is now a widow.

In a post on social media his friend said an hour before Hooman was shot, he'd said if he didn't return, he'd died so others could be free.

"Who do you think is responsible for his death?" I ask Nasrin.

"The Iranian government, the Mullahs. They're all murderers, they all have the blood of the Iranian people on their hands," she quickly replies.

"They shoot the young people and then they demand money for the bullet. Are these the people in power or are they murderers?" she adds.

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The exact death toll following the mass protests which began in late December is difficult to verify.

Iran's government has released the names of around 3,000 people it says were killed, including civilians and security forces.

It blames rioters and foreign interference for fuelling the violence.

'I have no hope about Donald Trump'

Following the crackdown, US President Donald Trump has sent warships towards Iran and repeatedly threatened to use force to make the country reach a deal on its nuclear programme, but Nasrin says it's not enough.

"I have no hope about Donald Trump. They could already help many other Iranian people. They could do sanctions," she says.

"The people of Iran can get rid of this government, but we need to help them. They don't need war."

I ask whether she would support foreign powers going into the country to overturn the regime, or if she believes lasting change can only happen from within.

"From within," she replies. "From outside, they just want war, they want to destroy our country. We don't want that."

Powerless to push for change inside Iran - Nasrin has joined thousands of other Iranians at protests in Germany demanding democracy and justice for the dead; both demands may fail.

Sky News put the allegations made against the Iranian regime in this interview to the Iranian Embassy in London.

At the time of publication, we had not received a reply.

(c) Sky News 2026: Family of Iranian protester forced to 'pay for the bullet that killed their son'