Shirin Alizadeh, born on August 16, 1986, in Isfahan, a central city in Iran, was married and the mother of a 7-year-old son.
On September 22, 2022, while traveling with her family in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, Shirin Alizadeh was shot in the head by security forces.
At the moment of her death, she was recording the clashes between protesters and regime forces stationed at a Basij paramilitary base on her mobile phone. The horrifying footage of her final moments, including her fatal shooting, was captured and later shared on social media.
Shirin’s young son was in the car with her, witnessing his mother’s tragic death. After her murder, the regime’s forces prevented Shirin’s family from transferring her body back to her hometown of Isfahan for burial.
After one month, her family was threatened and forced to sign an agreement to remain silent about her death. Eventually, Shirin was laid to rest in Bagh-e Rezvan Cemetery in Isfahan, under heavy surveillance by government officials and plainclothes agents.
Shirin’s final act—capturing the truth on her phone—was met with a bullet that ended her life. Her courage in documenting the struggle for freedom, even at the cost of her life, shows how the regime’s violence extends not only to protesters but to innocent families as well.
On August 17, 2023, the husband of Shirin Alizadeh, Mr. Kourosh Vaziri, was arrested by security forces and detained in Dastgerd Prison of Isfahan. Mr. Vaziri was arrested after celebrating his wife’s birthday with some friends at her tombstone. He was arrested in front of his son.
Her sister, Nasrin, was also arrested on August 23, 2023, and transferred to an undisclosed location.