Widespread Protests Over the Murder of a Young Man in Sangsar; Users Blame IRGC's Fatemiyoun

The murder of a young man in Sangsar, Semnan, allegedly by members of the Fatemiyoun, a militia under the IRGC's Quds Force, has sparked widespread public protests and reactions from social media users. Reports indicate that a young man from Sangsar (Mahdishahr) went missing in recent days, and his lifeless body was later discovered in the deserts surrounding the city. Subsequently, state news agencies reported the arrest of suspects who confessed to the murder. Although official sources have not stated that the suspects in the murder of Maziar Touranian were non-Iranian nationals, the governor's office of Mahdishahr (Sangsar) announced that 'the expulsion of foreign nationals from this county has been approved.' The state-run news agency Mehr reported that 'from the decree of the security council of the governorate, it can be inferred that this incident was perpetrated by foreign nationals.' Some social media users described Maziar Touranian as a 'patriotic young man' based on his Instagram account, blaming the government for his murder. One user emphasized that 'the Islamic Republic is gradually destroying the people of Iran.' In recent days, numerous images and videos of protests and marches by hundreds of citizens in Semnan province have been shared on social media. Some sources on social media, citing 'the citizens of Sangsar,' have stated that the murder of Maziar Touranian, a young fruit seller in this city, occurred 'by members of the Fatemiyoun militia, a subsidiary of the Quds Force.' The human rights group 'Hirkani' reported, based on 'the citizens of Sangsar,' that 'Fatemiyoun groups have been settled in Sangsar by the regime [Islamic Republic], and the murder of Maziar Touranian is linked to them.' According to this report, Maziar Touranian had been missing since Thursday, February 25, and following the protests and marches of the people of Sangsar, the Islamic Republic officials 'were forced to confess and hours after the protest gathering of the nomadic tribes,' provided details about his murder. Due to restrictions on the activities of free media in Iran, VOA is unable to verify some of the claims made regarding this news. According to some social media users, incidents such as the murder of Maziar Touranian are the result of the Islamic Republic's 'continuous crisis-making' aimed at 'keeping the people occupied,' including the 'uncontrolled influx of Afghan nationals in the past two years.' Concurrently with the reactions to the killing of Maziar Touranian, reports indicate the murder of another citizen in Taleghani Park in Tehran by Afghan nationals for 'mobile theft.' In this context, Pouran Nazemi, a human rights activist in Iran, stated that 'opposition to the widespread entry of Afghans' into Iran does not mean 'xenophobia,' noting that as a result of the massive influx of Afghan nationals, 'the rate of murder and robbery' in Iran has 'increased several times.' Ms. Nazemi wrote on the social media platform X: 'We have no problem with real migrants, as long as they do not interfere in the internal affairs of Iranians and do not become a repressive force for the government.' She also called for Afghan migrants to 'stand against these crimes themselves.' On the other hand, following the increase in crime and violence in Iran, coinciding with the wave of uncontrolled entry of foreign nationals from the eastern borders of the country in the past two years, the absence of legal oversight has intensified xenophobic statements and behaviors. Following the murder of Amir Mohammad Khalighi, a 19-year-old student in Tehran by robbers, rumors attributing this murder to Afghan nationals intensified, leading officials to state in a statement that the arrested suspects were not foreign nationals. In light of the Islamic Republic's negligence in controlling insecurity in Iranian cities, public protests have intensified. In recent days, following the murder of Amir Mohammad Khalighi, student protests have also been ongoing, with protesters pointing fingers at the government and attributing the killing of this young student to the 'incompetence of the ruling authority.'