They celebrate in Iran the defeat of their soccer team in Qatar 3:11
(CNN) --
A man was reportedly killed by security forces in northern Iran during public celebrations by protesters following the national soccer team's loss to the United States on Tuesday.
Norway-based human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Mehran Samak was shot in the head by security personnel as he was celebrating in Bandar Anzali on Tuesday night.
IHR said it confirmed the information through "various independent sources."
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"His name was #MehranSamak. He was shot in the head by state forces when he went out to celebrate the defeat of the Islamic Republic in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Bandar Anzali last night, like many others across the country. He was only 27 years old," Iran Human Rights said on Wednesday.
Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said 27-year-old Mehran Samak was shot in the head by security personnel.
Credit: ISNA
IHR and other activist groups had initially reported that authorities withheld Samak's body and refused to return it to his family.
IHR shared a video showing people gathered outside the State Medical Examiner's Organization demanding that the body be returned to his family.
Later on Wednesday, the pro-reform news outlet IranWire shared a video showing the crowd at Samak's funeral in Bandar Anzali chanting "death to the dictator."
Images obtained by CNN from pro-reform news outlet IranWire show Samak's funeral in Bandar Anzali.
Credit: IranWire
Samak was a close friend of Saeid Ezatolahi, a member of the Iranian national soccer team, who had just returned to the country after Qatar's team was eliminated from the World Cup.
The soccer player posted a tribute to his childhood friend on Instagram on Wednesday.
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"I wish we could always be at the same age... no worries, no hate, no jealousy, no fighting to crush each other... There's a lot to say to my childhood companion but unfortunately people drown in it ego and jealousy and it becomes a disaster that there are hardly any people who listen to these words or they don't exist”.
"Definitely, after another bitter night yesterday and with the news of your death, my heart is even more on fire."
Iran's prosecutor Mehdi Fallah Miri said a case had been opened over the "suspicious" murder of Samak after he died "due to a pellet bullet," Iran's Student News Agency reported on Thursday ( ISNA), aligned with the State.
"As soon as this suspicious incident occurred, a case was opened to deal with the matter and the Bandar Anzali prosecutor is handling the case," Miri added, according to ISNA.
Iranian protesters celebrate the defeat of their team in the World Cup;
there is fear for the safety of the players upon their return to the country
Several videos were posted on social media Tuesday night showing people in cities across Iran, including the capital Tehran, celebrating inside their homes and residential buildings after the United States defeated Iran 1-0 in the world Cup.
"I am happy, it is the government that loses to the people," a witness to the celebrations in a town in the Kurdish region told CNN on Wednesday.
CNN is not naming the witness for security reasons.
Activist media outlet 1500tasvir has also published videos showing security forces, apparently on Tuesday night, opening fire on people in Behbahan and beating a woman in Qazvin, both towns south of Bandar. Anzali, where Samak is said to have been killed.
CNN cannot independently confirm the information, as the Iranian government does not allow foreign media outlets into the country, and has not been transparent in its reporting on the protests and their victims.
Demonstrations have rocked Iran for several months, prompting a deadly crackdown by the authorities.
The national revolt began with the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who lost her life in mid-September after being detained by the country's morality police.
Since then, protesters across Iran have rallied around a series of grievances against the regime.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has declared that the country is in a "total human rights crisis" following the crackdown on protests by the authorities.
Rob Picheta, Artemis Moshtaghian, Mohammed Tawfeeq, and Jomana Karadsheh contributed reporting.
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