Warning: Distressing content and harsh language
Samira had never cared about politics before.
“I used to work in sales in Iran, selling cosmetics,” she told BBC Panorama. This was before the day her only daughter was killed in front of her by Iranian security forces, and her life has changed since then.
Sixteen-year-old Sevda was participating in protests against Iran's repressive regime - which swept the country earlier this year - before the US and Israel launched massive air strikes that killed the Islamic Republic's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Samira added that her sadness turned into overwhelming anger when the Iranian authorities deliberately obstructed her efforts to find her daughter's body, instead of helping her.
She said: “I then realized that finding Sevda was not the end, but just the beginning of a series of harassment that I had been subjected to at their hands.”
In light of this situation, Samira fled Iran on a dangerous journey, which she took on foot through rugged mountainous terrain. She now lives in secret abroad, describing herself as a "one-woman army fighting the regime."
In an effort to achieve accountability and justice after the killing of her daughter, Samira was determined to reveal the names of members of the security forces and officials who she believed were responsible for firing the fatal bullets during the protests.
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Samira said: “They will push me to the brink of death before they kill me, but finding me will not be easy... How do I return to normal life? There is no going back.”
Samira is one of several Iranians the BBC has spoken to since the beginning of the year. Some of them - who are still inside the country - said that they wanted to speak out despite the risks, noting that they found it very difficult to cling to hope after the brutal suppression of the mass protests.
For its part, the Iranian embassy in London told BBC Panorama that the peaceful and legitimate protests had been hijacked by external forces, led by the United States, which the embassy accused of inciting violence, providing weapons and equipment, and undermining public security.
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Sevda was killed on January 9, while she was participating - alongside Samira - in mass demonstrations on the outskirts of the capital, Tehran, that had broken out the previous month.
These protests took place denouncing the poor economic conditions, before their pace escalated and turned into demands for an end to the rule of the "Islamic Republic" in the country.
Although Samira denies her interest in politics at the time, she confirms that her daughter was as well.
Sevda used to take two other young women as role models: Mahsa Amini, who died while in detention on allegations that she violated the rules of wearing the mandatory hijab and whose death sparked widespread protests; and Nika Shakermi, who was killed during an ensuing uprising against the strict Islamic dress code imposed on women in Iran.
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“She kept their memory alive in her thoughts, and always wanted to continue their approach [to resistance],” Samira said.
The day before Sevda was killed, the number of protesters was strikingly large. Samira recalls that she and Sevda responded to a call by Reza Pahlavi - the son of the last Shah of Iran who lives in exile - to go out in demonstrations.
She added: "The security forces had lost control."
Samira pointed out that the increasing numbers of protesters panicked the Iranian government, which the next day issued shoot-to-kill orders. But Samira thought at the time that it was an empty threat, saying: “They lied a lot in Iran... We could not imagine a massacre of this magnitude occurring.”
She pointed out that they derived reassurance from US President Donald Trump’s promise to support them and stand by them.
On January 8, Trump told US media: “I have told [the Iranian authorities] that if they start killing people — something they have been doing during the unrest — we will respond very forcefully.”
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However, Samira recalls that crowd numbers seemed smaller on the ninth day of the month.
It seems that Sevda was aware of the risks; She took off her earrings and gave them to her grandmother, and Samira also shared the access code for her phone.
The mother and daughter joined the rest of the protesters, then Sevda climbed onto a garbage can and began leading chants.
Samira described the area they were in, saying: “It seemed as if the number of members of the security forces outnumbered the number of civilians. I do not know how they were able to mobilize all these Basij and Revolutionary Guard forces in the space of one day.”
It is noteworthy that the "Revolutionary Guard" is responsible for protecting the Islamic regime in the country, while the "Popular Resistance Forces" (Basij) is a paramilitary formation consisting of volunteers working under the command of the Revolutionary Guard.
She added: "A sniper fired from the roof of a building located to our right. The bullet must have come from that roof; it pierced her heart. I couldn't even scream. I remained petrified in place, staring at 'Sevda', whose body lay motionless. Blood was flowing profusely from her mouth and nose. I couldn't believe what was happening. I couldn't believe she was taking her last breath. Her eyes were staring at me."
Samira was able to take Sevda to the hospital, and was told that the doctors were performing surgery on her, but when the door opened later, she was surprised to find that Sevda had been placed inside a body bag.
Image source: Sisu Pictures Ltd
Sevda's body was taken away. Samira said it took days to find her daughter again; She found herself - like many others - in one of the largest morgues in Tehran.
“Teenagers, little girls and boys,” she said, crying. “Many of them were killed.”
She added: "I was dying with every body bag I opened. I had never seen so many bodies in my life, but I did not give up."
In the end, Samira found her daughter; “There were three bodies piled on top of Sevda’s body, that’s how we found them,” she says.
Iranian authorities at the time acknowledged that more than 3,000 people had been killed during the protests, but claimed that some of them were members of the security forces. On the other hand, the human rights organization "Hrana" estimates the number of deaths at more than 7,000 people, saying that most of them were protesters.
Samira's finding of her daughter's body was the beginning of her battle with the Iranian authorities.
In order to be allowed to receive and bury the body, she said she was forced to admit that “terrorists” - not security forces - were responsible for Sevda’s killing.
She added: “They did this to cover up what they committed on January 8 and 9, and to hide the true number of deaths. They silenced families by forcing them to claim that their loved ones were killed by Israeli or American terrorists.”
After all this, Samira confirmed that she was prevented from visiting her daughter’s grave after the burial ceremony, and was also prevented from placing a headstone on her grave.
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The harassment continued to haunt Samira, she said; A few days before the ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of Sevda's death - an occasion of great significance in Iranian culture - she received a summons from a local branch of the Ministry of Intelligence.
“They told me: ‘You have to interview us and say that Sevda belonged to the Basij forces and that she was killed by the protesters. Then we will declare her a martyr, and in return you will get privileges, a house, or anything you ask for.’”
Samira believes that this offer stemmed from the fear of the authorities; After Samira reported the news of Sevda's killing to an Iranian media organization based in London, immediately after the return of Internet service in the country.
She said: “They were terrified by my communication with external networks or parties outside Iran.”
To avoid this interview, Samira fled Iran as soon as the 40th anniversary ceremony of her daughter’s death ended, saying: “I did not want to trade my child’s blood.”
She reported that human smugglers helped her escape; She crossed rivers and crossed mountains to reach safety.
In a video clip she recorded of herself during her escape, she showed signs of intense anger.
“This damned government, these scoundrels,” she said to the camera as she walked along a mountain pass alongside a steep slope. “They have put a lot of pressure on me.”
Samira said that after she continued to give interviews to foreign media from abroad, she was charged in absentia with a series of crimes, including “haraba” – waging war against God – a charge that could carry a death sentence.
On the birthday of Sevda - who would have turned seventeen - her relatives and friends organized a vigil, which Samira followed via a live broadcast from her exile. “Then the broadcast suddenly stopped,” she told us.
Samira later learned that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard raided the event and arrested a number of her family members and friends.
She added that the authorities warned her family that if they continued to gather at Sevda's grave, her grave would be exhumed and her remains would be moved elsewhere.
Now, Samira is working to publish the names of members of the security forces and Iranian officials who she believes were responsible for firing the fatal bullets during the protests in which she and Sevda participated on January 8 and 9.
She said: “I want justice for everyone whose name I reveal; they killed many young people. My goal is to reveal their identities to bring them to trial.”
When one of the men Samira had named online was later found murdered, a regime supporter offered a $5,000 (£3,732) reward for information on her whereabouts, assuming she was responsible for his death. Since then, Iranian state media has reported that nine individuals have been arrested in connection with this incident.
Despite the risks, Samira stressed that she refuses to remain silent, saying: “Every day and every second that passes without Sevda is extremely difficult for myself. It is like a mother who has lost her heart and her being, and even lost her life.”
She added: "But the fact that Sevda is no longer alive gave me the strength to stand on my feet... to think about honoring her life and her career... All those corpses that I saw, and all those bags that I opened in search of Sevda; all of this drives me to fight the Islamic Republic until my last breath."
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