About

Nahid Mostafapour, a talented and ambitious young woman from Yasuj, Boir Ahmad province, tragically became a symbol of the brutal crackdown on the 2021 Iran protests. She was a graduate of Tehran’s University of Science and Technology, holding a master’s degree in electrical engineering and had secured a scholarship to continue her studies in the United States. With plans to migrate with her husband the following month, Nahid’s future was full of promise.

However, her commitment to justice and freedom led her to participate in the nationwide protests that erupted following the death of Mahsa Amini. Despite the risk, Nahid and her friends raised their voices against the years of oppression and injustice they and their fellow citizens had endured. Her participation in the protests, however, led to her abduction by intelligence agents in Tehran. After nine days in detention, where she was subjected to rape and torture, Nahid succumbed to her injuries and passed away on November 7, 2021, at the age of 35.

The government’s response to her death was as cold and merciless as her capture. Security forces threatened her family, compelling them to claim she died of COVID-19 and not as a result of government violence. In an attempt to silence her story, her body was hurriedly buried under strict security measures, with her family and friends unable to properly mourn or even see her one last time.

Despite these attempts at suppression, Nahid’s story resonates as a poignant reminder of the human cost of the struggle for freedom in Iran. Her courage and the injustice of her death have become rallying cries for those who continue to fight against oppression in the country. Nahid Mostafapour’s legacy is a testament to her bravery and the enduring spirit of the Iranian people’s demand for dignity, justice, and human rights.