Protests in Abdanan, Ilam After the Death of a Young Man: 'Seyed Ali Bi-Risheh, the Uprising Won't End'

According to videos sent to Voice of America and social media, on Thursday night, a group of people gathered in the city of Abdanan in Ilam province to protest the death of Bamshad Soleimani Khani and chanted against the Iranian government. In the published films, protesters set fires in several streets and shouted: 'We don't want a child-killing republic,' 'Death to Khamenei,' and 'Seyed Ali Bi-Risheh, the uprising won't end.' The protests in Abdanan were met with the presence of law enforcement and gunfire directed at the protesters. The protests were triggered by the death of Bamshad Soleimani Khani. Government media claim that Mr. Soleimani Khani died due to poisoning at Razavi Hospital in Ilam. However, the people in Abdanan do not accept this narrative. Isa Bayar, a civil activist from Abdanan who now resides outside Iran, recently recounted that 'Bamshad Soleimani Khani, a young student from Abdanan, returned home on Wednesday, June 3, with signs of beating and cigarette burn marks on his hands, and that night he fell into a coma due to the severity of his injuries, with his death announced by doctors on June 7.' Islamic Republic officials, including Ali Mohammadi, the head of the Ilam province judiciary, state that Bamshad Soleimani Khani had not been summoned or arrested by security agencies or the judiciary. He also claimed, without mentioning Bamshad Soleimani Khani, that 'a citizen of Abdanan residing in Dehloran committed suicide by taking pills for personal reasons.' Isa Bayar described the violence of the officers against the protesters as 'brutal' and published photos of victims of the officers' gunfire.