Heartbreaking face of the victims of Iran’s brutal cruelty ‘as death toll rises to more than 500’: Student in Tehran shot in the back of the head and buried at the roadside

In Tehran, as the death toll continues to rise following demonstrations against the Iranian regime, a student protester was shot in the back of the head and buried by the roadside.

Activists now say the death toll in the crackdown on protests across the country has risen to at least 538 people.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency claimed that more than 10,600 people were detained in the meantime.

The group said a total of 490 of those killed were protesters and 48 were members of the security forces.

Rubina Aminian, 23, had joined the street protests on Thursday after a day of classes in the textile program at Shariati College.

The young Kurdish woman joined the crowd of demonstrators and activists, but a few days later her body was found buried on the side of a deserted road.

According to Iran Human Rights, Aminian was shot in the back of the head at close range before being buried.

The group added that her devastated parents traveled from their home in Kermanshah to Tehran over the weekend, where they discovered their daughter’s body and discovered that many other teenagers had been killed in similar ways.

A police station was set on fire during protests in Tehran, Iran, January 10, 2026

Flames rose from burning debris in the middle of a street in Gorgan on January 10, 2026, while protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious center during ongoing anti-regime demonstrations.

They were also told that they would not be allowed to bring their daughter’s body home, but they later convinced the authorities to release her.

When the family arrived home, they found their house surrounded by intelligence agents, Iran Human Rights reported.

Tragically, when they approached mosques to request a traditional funeral for their daughter, they were informed that such ceremonies were prohibited.

Aminian was eventually buried next to the road between Kermanshah and Kamyaran.

A source close to the family described her as ‘a young woman full of joy of dreams, passionate about fashion and clothing design, whose dreams were dashed by the violent repression of the Islamic Republic’.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency said that with the internet and phone lines cut in Iran, it has become more difficult to gauge the demonstrations from abroad.

Based on cross-checking information from activists in Iran, the activist group offered accurate wages during previous rounds of unrest in the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian government did not provide any overall casualty figures for the demonstrations.

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on January 9, 2026

Nationwide protests began in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar in late December in response to worsening economic conditions.

Over the weekend, IranWire reported testimony from doctors and activists suggesting the regime had toughened its policy in the middle of last week, with protesters being shot in the head and neck on Thursday and Friday nights.

The report also cited an increase in recordings of security forces opening fire on protesters from rooftops.

A single surgeon treated six patients who were shot in the head following a protest in Tehran’s Qala Hassan Khan district on Thursday; none survived.

Footage circulating on social media on Sunday showed a heartbroken family member holding the crushed remains of a metal bullet removed from a loved one’s skull.

Health officials said hospitals were overflowing with dead and injured patients, while an eye hospital was forced into ‘crisis mode’ due to the number of people losing one or both eyes.

Meanwhile, the Iranian regime’s language hardened and its definition of protesters was changed from ‘rebels’ to ‘terrorists’.

And the regime does not appear to be sparing the lives of young people in its brutal crackdown.

After a shooting at a demonstration in Najafabad, parents rushed to a nearby hospital to find their children’s bodies, according to a medical source.

Protesters in London burned an image of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran in solidarity with the uprising in Iran on January 11.

A protester waves an Iranian flag with the lion and sun emblem, dating back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, during a rally in solidarity with Iranian protesters in Whitehall, London, on Sunday.

Protesters in London on Sunday display banners bearing the image of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who fled to the United States with his father, the ousted Shah, after the Islamic Revolution in 1979

‘They took their children and buried them in the same clothes,’ the source said. ‘They said that they were martyrs and that they did not need to wash or shroud.’

On Sunday, protesters gathered in Whitehall, London. Rally organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran in solidarity with the Iranian uprising.

Demonstrators burned images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and waved the country’s pre-Islamic flag.

Many protesters carried signs bearing the image of exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, who fled to the United States with his father, the ousted Shah, after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and who many believe will be the country’s next leader.

Internationally, Donald Trump has been briefed on possible strike options against Iran after saying he was ‘ready to help’ protesters facing repression from the Ayatollah regime.

The president has not yet made a decision on whether to open fire on the Islamic Republic, but sources close to him told the New York Times that he is considering authorizing an attack in response to the regime’s brutal suppression of demonstrations.

Iranians are taking to the streets in Tehran by the thousands to rebel against the theocracy as it triggers an economic crisis fueled by hyperinflation.

Officials told the Times that Trump was presented with several options, including attacking non-military zones in Iran’s capital.

Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran, on January 9, 2026

Iran’s religious leader Ali Khamenei attended a meeting attended by the people of Qom in Tehran. On January 8, 2026, Iranian protesters intensified their challenges to religious leaders, celebrating the largest demonstration in nearly two weeks of rallies.

It comes as hundreds of protesters are feared to be killed by security forces this weekend in Iran, where the regime’s religious dictatorship is fighting brutally to survive.

Fanatic leaders announced that anyone who participated in the protests would be considered an ‘enemy of God’ and would be punished with death. One woman told CNN she saw bodies “piled up” in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Iran warned Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US army and Israel would be ‘legitimate targets’ if the US attacked Tehran.

While Parliament Speaker Mohammad ‍Baqer ‍Qalibaf gave a warning in his speech in the parliament in the capital of Iran, MPs shouted ‘Death to America’.

“In case of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territories and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Kalibaf said.

‘We do not see ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act upon an objective indication of threat.’

President Trump warned last week that Iran would be “hit very hard” if it repeated the mass killings of previous uprisings.

In a post published on the Truth Social network on Saturday, he said: ‘Iran is looking at FREEDOM perhaps like never before. USA is ready to help!!!’ Last night, it was reported that the White House had “preliminary discussions” regarding a possible attack plan against Iran.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned: ‘Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’s going to do something, he means it.’

Trump had previously hit three nuclear facilities in Iran on June 22, 2025, during Operation Midnight Hammer.

Donald Trump briefed on possible strike options against Iran after saying he was ‘ready to help’ protesters facing repression from the Ayatollah regime

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed ‍Baqer ‍Qalibaf gave a warning in his speech in the parliament in the capital of Iran, while MPs shouted ‘Death to America’

While the US Air Force used B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, the Navy launched Tomahawk missiles from submarines, hitting the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Facility, the Natanz Nuclear Facility, and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.

With the internet shut down and phone lines cut in Iran, it has become more difficult to gauge demonstrations from abroad.

However, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, while the number of deaths in the protests increased, 2,600 people were detained.

Those abroad fear the information blackout will embolden hardliners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite Trump’s warnings that he is prepared to strike Iran to protect peaceful demonstrators.

It remains unclear how serious Iran is about launching an attack, especially after seeing its air defenses destroyed during a 12-day war with Israel in June.

The decision to go to war belongs to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The US military said it was ‘positioned with forces spanning the full range of combat capability to defend our forces, our partners, our allies and the United States’ in the Middle East. interests.”

While Iran targeted US forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June, the US also targeted the US. The Navy’s Middle East-based 5th Fleet is based in the island kingdom of Bahrain.

An Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, said that Israel, meanwhile, was “closely monitoring” the situation between the United States and Iran.

The official added that Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio overnight on issues including Iran.