18 January 2026 :
January 18, 2026 - IRAN. Five people killed in Tehran protests identified
Hamid Arzanlou, Vahid Arzanlou, Mohammadreza Entezami, Milad Gholami, Ali Sadeghi
Five protesters, including two brothers, have been identified among those killed by direct gunfire from Iranian forces during the recent protests in Tehran. The victims are Hamid Arzanlou, Vahid Arzanlou, Mohammadreza Entezami, Milad Gholami, and Ali Sadeghi.
According to information received by Hengaw, Vahid Arzanlou, a father of three young children, died on January 17, 2026, after spending nine days in a coma from gunshot wounds sustained during protests in the Tehranpars area. His brother, Hamid Arzanlou, a father of two young children, died on Sunday, January 11, 2026, after suffering severe head injuries caused by direct gunfire from Iranian forces.
Informed sources state that Hamid Arzanlou was critically wounded after being shot in the head. When his brother Vahid attempted to help him, Iranian forces opened fire and struck Vahid twice in the neck, leaving him in a coma until his death.
Iranian security institutions demanded 1.5 billion tomans from the Arzanlou family in exchange for returning the bodies. Authorities also forced the family to sign a written pledge stating that the cause of death was “stroke” and made the return of the bodies conditional on the family’s participation in a pro-government rally in Tehran’s Enghelab Square.
On the same day, Ali Sadeghi, a 31-year-old resident of Tehran, was killed by Iranian forces during protests in District 12 of the city. One week later, his body has still not been returned to his family.
Security institutions are demanding 700 million tomans for the release of his body, which the family has been unable to pay. Ali Sadeghi was his family’s only child, and his father had passed away two years earlier.
Also on January 8, 2026, Mohammadreza Entezami, a 29-year-old parkour champion from Tehran, was killed by Iranian forces during protests in the Haft-Hoz neighbourhood of Narmak. Entezami was also active in theatre and the performing arts.
Another protester, Milad Gholami, a 25-year-old resident of Tehran, was killed after being shot in the head with live ammunition in the Tehranpars area. His family remained unaware of his fate for six days until authorities contacted them and instructed them to visit the forensic office to identify his body.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2026/01/article-148-1
