“Shirzad Balaei,” a 42-year-old citizen from Islamabad-e Gharb, is the identity of another person killed in the nationwide protests in this city who lost his life during the suppression of protesters.
According to Kolbarnews, on the evening of Thursday, January 8, 2026, at around 9:00 p.m., Shirzad Balaei was targeted by direct and deliberate live gunfire from suppressive forces of the Islamic Republic in front of the Islamabad-e Gharb governor’s office building and was killed on the spot after being shot in the head.
According to obtained information, security institutions and IRGC forces pressured his family from the early hours after his killing and attempted to transfer his body from the village of Cheshmeh Khani, but the family opposed this action and did not allow the body to be removed.
Reports also indicate that government institutions demanded money from the family, a request that was explicitly rejected.
Subsequently, security forces, through severe pressure and by obtaining written commitments from several family members to hold the burial ceremony at night, in a limited manner and without public attendance, issued permission for burial.
Despite these pressures, the body of Shirzad Balaei was buried on Saturday, January 10, 2026, in the village of Cheshmeh Khani with a large public presence, and participants in the ceremony chanted slogans expressing their protest against the Islamic Republic authorities.
