 "Iranian man who burnt Khamenei's picture found dead with gunshot wound: Reports")
The death of an Iranian man, identified as Omid Sarlak, has ignited a fresh wave of controversy and speculation, pitting official state media accounts against claims made by opposition outlets and mourners.
Sarlak, from the Lorestan province, was found dead with a gunshot wound hours after posting an image of himself setting fire to a picture of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Instagram.
The incident has immediately polarised observers inside and outside of Iran.
Conflicting accounts on cause of death
Iran’s state news agency, IRNA, carried an official police report stating that Sarlak was discovered dead in his car from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, with a pistol found by his side.
The police chief in his town of Aligudarz confirmed the finding, and the semi-official Tasnim news agency strongly rejected what it called claims by “anti-revolution media” that Sarlak had been persecuted or “murdered in a suspicious manner,” asserting he had no open legal case against him.
However, footage widely circulated by opposition media groups, including Iran International and Radio Farda, showed dozens of mourners at Sarlak’s funeral reportedly chanting slogans such as “they killed him!” and “death to Khamenei,” directly contradicting the official suicide ruling.
Sarlak, who was reportedly in his twenties, had previously signaled his anti-regime stance and sympathy for the deposed Iranian monarchy. The video he posted included a recording of the voice of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the ousted Shah, also weighed in on the death, writing on X that Sarlak “stood against the oppression of the Islamic republic and sacrificed his life for Iran’s freedom.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn a notable twist to the conflicting narratives, a video circulated by opposition outlets showed Sarlak’s father tearfully saying, “they killed my boy.” Yet, the father later appeared on local state-run television, urging the public not to believe claims being circulated on social media.
The event occurs amidst reports of an ongoing, intensified crackdown by Iranian authorities. The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Iran has previously noted an “alarming” increase in executions and “mass arrests” of activists, stating that “external aggression has fuelled deeper internal repression.”
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