The heartbreaking death of Zahra Golmakani, a 10-year-old elementary school student in Mashhad, has once again raised alarm over the deteriorating physical and nutritional health of children across Iran.
On Monday, October 13, 2025, Zahra Golmakani, a fourth-grade student at Sheikh Sadough Primary School in the Tabadkan district of Mashhad, suffered cardiac arrest just before recess. She was immediately transferred to a nearby hospital, but medical efforts to save her life were unsuccessful.
On Tuesday, the Public Relations Office of the Khorasan Razavi Department of Education confirmed her death in an official statement, offering no explanation regarding the circumstances or possible causes of the incident.
This tragedy marks the second death due to cardiac arrest in Iranian schools since the start of the current academic year. Earlier, Nima Najafi, a 14-year-old student in Zanjan, died after being subjected to physical punishment and excessive pressure by school officials, a case that the Parliamentary Education Commission was eventually forced to acknowledge.
Zahra Golmakani’s sudden death cannot be dismissed as an isolated event. It must be understood within the broader systemic crisis affecting millions of Iranian children. Worsening economic hardship, malnutrition caused by poverty, and the deep-seated corruption and plunder entrenched within the regime have created conditions that endanger even the well-being of children.
These recurring tragedies are not mere accidents; they are the symptoms of a collapsing social and educational infrastructure, eroded by inequality, negligence, and institutional decay under Iran’s ruling establishment.
