Mourners in the western Iranian city of Aligoudarz chanted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday during the funeral of Omid Sarlak, a young man found dead hours after posting a video of himself burning the leader’s photo.
Videos received by Iran International show large crowds attending Sarlak’s burial in Lorestan province, chanting “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator.”
Others cried, “We will kill whoever killed my brother,” and “This flower that has withered is a gift to the homeland.”
Several mourners recited verses from the Shahnameh -- the Persian national epic written by the 10th-century poet Ferdowsi, which celebrates heroism and resistance to tyranny -- comparing Sarlak’s courage to that of ancient Persian heroes.
Sarlak’s father appeared in a widely shared video at the site where his son’s body was found, saying, “They killed my champion here.” Another man in the clip can be heard saying Sarlak was “surrounded and shot.”
The funeral followed comments from Ali Asadollahi, the police commander of Aligoudarz, who said on Sunday that the body of a young man had been discovered inside a car near Arsalan Goodarzi Stadium, adding that he “took his own life with a handgun.”
Authorities did not identify the victim, but social media users soon named him as Sarlak and accused officials of pressuring the family to endorse the suicide narrative.
A final act of defiance
Before his death, Sarlak had posted videos on Instagram showing a burning photo of Khamenei with an archival recording of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s voice playing over it.
In another story tagged “Death to Khamenei,” he wrote: “How long should we endure humiliation, poverty, and being ridden over? This is the moment to show yourself, young people. These clerics are nothing but a stream for Iran’s youth to cross.”
Activists described Sarlak as a patriotic youth and said he was “killed under torture by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry” hours after sharing the video.
Another user wrote he had been “arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organization and his bruised, tortured body was later returned to his family.”
Iran International cannot independently verify those remarks. Judicial and security authorities have not provided clarification on the circumstances of his death, and the lack of transparency has intensified public skepticism.
In recent years, officials have repeatedly attributed suspicious deaths to suicide -- a statement widely doubted by the public, who often use the phrase “he was suicided” to express disbelief.
One such case was that of former political prisoner Sara Tabrizi, found dead at her parents’ home last year after pressure from security forces.
“I believe the enemy today neither has the power nor the conditions to begin a war,” Ali-Mohammad Naeini said in an interview with the podcast Story of the War on Sunday.
“They entered with maximal goals from the start. Now the question is, with what new motive or objective could they act again? When we speak of war, we mean the full-scale conflict that aimed to overthrow and divide the country.”
The problem for Iran’s adversaries, Naeini said, was not just weapons shortages but technological weakness. “Their real problem is the lack of advanced technology, inadequate air-defense systems, and limited technical knowledge,” he added.
“Even with what technology they possessed, they could not mount an effective defense, and there is still no sign of new strategic readiness that could improve deterrence or serve fresh objectives.”
Iran’s military readiness, he said, remains constant. “Preparations go on around the clock,” Naeini added. “From the youth of the Aerospace Force to ground units, the Basij, and senior commanders, everyone is in the field studying threats and developments.”
Response to Haniyeh assassination
Security officials, Naeini said, acted within hours of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, in a July 2024 Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran. “The National Security Council met immediately,” he said. “The conclusion was clear: a response was necessary.”
He said an investigation confirmed the strike was not internal sabotage. “A shoulder-launched missile entered through the window and struck while he was on a phone call,” Naeini said. “The attackers used his phone signal to locate and hit him.”
The follow-up operation, codenamed True Promise 2, he added, served both as retaliation and deterrence.
“That strike was not only a response to the assassination but also a boost to the regional deterrence posture and to the morale of our allies.”
Operations and missile strikes
The Guards, according to Naeini, conducted 22 waves of operations during the 12-day war. “We designed the campaign so the Israelis would continually experience going to their shelters,” he said.
“From the fifth to the eighth day, the battlefield superiority was absolute for us, and on the final day we enjoyed complete victory.”
Iranian forces downed at least 80 advanced drones and recorded 334 wrecks, he said. “These drones employed some of the world’s most advanced technologies,” Naeini added.
“Through cyber measures and short-range systems we neutralized those threats and restored relative air security.”
On June 23, 2025, the IRGC launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
“Fourteen missiles were launched; six hit the target,” Naeini said, adding that “about $111 million was spent by the US to counter them.”
Iran’s aim was deterrence, not escalation, Naeini maintained. “When we can force the enemy to its knees with our operational units, there is no need to widen the war.”
The 12-day conflict ended June 24 under a US-brokered ceasefire, but concern deepened as 400 kilograms of Iran’s highly enriched uranium remained unaccounted for.
Iran’s missile and drone power across all branches of the Guards “remains fully ready,” though “not all capabilities have been engaged, nor was there any need,” Naeini said.
The police commander of Sarlak's hometown Aligoudarz in Lorestan province announced on Sunday that the body of a young man had been found inside a vehicle near Araslan Goodarzi Stadium, without mentioning his identity.
Ali Asadollahi said the man had “taken his own life with a handgun,” adding that the case was under forensic police investigation to determine motive and exact cause.
Several social media users identified the young man as Omid Sarlak, saying that authorities had refused to hand over his body to his family and were pressuring them to confirm the official suicide narrative.
Users shared screenshots of Sarlak’s final Instagram stories. In one, he posted a video of Khamenei’s photo being set on fire, overlaid with audio of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
In another story, accompanied by the hashtag “Death to Khamenei,” Sarlak wrote:
“How long should we endure humiliation, poverty, and being ridden over? This is the moment to show yourself, young people. These clerics are nothing but a stream for Iran’s youth to cross.”
He added: “Instead of posting stories about imaginary enemies, show yourself now. This is the same moment you used to say, ‘If God is with us, no enemy matters.’ Here’s the field—prove yourselves. Doesn’t every city have four brave young people? I’ll be the first to come out.”
Shahram Sadidi, a poet and political activist from Sabzevar, posted photos of Sarlak on X and wrote: “He posted these stories and went to the streets. A few hours later, his bullet-riddled body was found in a car. The family still hasn’t received the body and is being forced to say it was suicide.”
Another user called him a “patriotic Bakhtiari youth” and claimed he was killed “under torture by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry” nine hours after posting
A different user wrote that Sarlak was arrested by the IRGC Intelligence Organization and “his bruised, tortured body was later returned to his family.”
Iran International cannot immediately verify the allegations.
Judicial and security officials have not yet issued any new clarification on the circumstances of Sarlak’s death, and the lack of transparency has fueled further questions.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly attributed suspicious deaths to suicide in recent years—an explanation widely rejected by the public, who often respond sarcastically with the phrase “he was suicided.”
One example was the case of former political prisoner Sara Tabrizi, whose body was found at her parents’ home in Tehran last year, after weeks of heavy pressure and interrogation by security agents.
In Mashhad, the report said, grave prices have reached record levels. Plots in municipal cemeteries range from sixty million rials (about $55) in public sections to more than 18 billion rials (around $16,700) for private family plots.
Mashhad is home to the burial site of the eighth Shia Imam.
In cemeteries near or inside the shrine itself, graves cost between 1 billion and 14 billion rials (roughly $925 to $12,950) depending on the location.
Iran's state-run Supreme Labor Council has set the base salary at roughly 104.4 million rials. At current market rates at about 1,080,000 rials per dollar, that monthly wage is worth about $95–$110 depending on benefits, compared with about $238–$300 in 2016.
The exorbitant prices have driven many urban families to seek cheaper grave options in rural areas, the report said.
“City people have filled our village cemetery,” said Fatemeh, a resident of a village near Mashhad. “They bury their dead here because it’s free, but now we no longer have space for our own.”
Residents in neighboring villages also said outsiders bring bodies at night to avoid restrictions, prompting local officials to consider fencing off village cemeteries.
Families interviewed by Shargh described how the rising costs have turned burials into a display of social status. One woman said her family spent nearly 20 billion rials (about $18,500) to honor her grandmother’s wish to be buried near the shrine.
“We had to sell everything to fulfill her will,” she said.
Another mourner said she faced criticism for burying her father outside the shrine: “It’s become a matter of prestige – people boast about where their dead are buried.”
National trend: the business of death
Across Iran, burial prices have become a nationwide controversy. In Tehran’s main cemetery, some family plots sell for several billion rials, while officials insist prices follow city council regulations. Reports have also surfaced of an underground grave mafia profiting from limited space in older cemeteries in Shiraz and Isfahan.
Tehran’s city council recently confirmed that a three-tier grave costs about 330 million rials (around $305), with the first burial officially free and the next two layers reserved for relatives. The policy, however, has fueled confusion and criticism online.
The municipalities in cooperation with the ministry of health drafted new regulations last June to improve standards in cemeteries. However, there are still no laws defining or limiting grave prices.
“There is no law regarding the price of graves, and the only limits are those approved by the city council,” Marzieh Mohebbi, a legal expert, told Shargh.
Under Iranian law, she added, pre-purchasing a grave is considered the sale of a right of use – “something similar to a permanent lease” – and cannot be transferred to another person.
The outlet said the 2024 summer was “the driest season in twenty years,” turning rivers into “lifeless channels” and leaving many wetlands -- including Lake Urmia, Bakhtegan, Gavkhouni, and Hamoun -- either completely dry or severely depleted.
Official data from the Ministry of Energy cited by Tasnim showed that the country received 36 millimeters less rain than usual, with all nine major watersheds recording significant drops in precipitation. Southern provinces such as Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, and Bushehr saw rainfall decline by as much as 90%.
Water reservoir levels have also plummeted. Total storage in Iran’s dams has fallen to 39 billion cubic meters, about 15% lower than last year, while more than 60% of major dams are operating below half capacity, the report said.
Environmental authorities warned that wetlands across the country are on the brink of collapse due to a combination of drought, overextraction of groundwater, and mismanagement of water resources.
Experts quoted in the report said Iran’s worsening water crisis is no longer a temporary drought but a structural challenge caused by decades of poor management, overuse of groundwater, and unchecked dam construction.
They urged a shift in water governance and consumption patterns, warning that without urgent reforms, “Iran will sink deeper into a permanent state of water scarcity.”
Ghalibaf said any foreign platform seeking to operate in Iran must comply with domestic laws and regulations set by the Supreme Council of Cyberspace.
“If a platform does not accept internal regulations, it will not receive a license,” he told parliament after a lawmaker said the administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian had signed an agreement with Telegram that had yet to be reviewed by the council.
Under existing policy, a nine-member committee oversees whether foreign platforms adhere to Iranian cyber regulations, including cooperation with judicial authorities and removal of content deemed threatening to national security or public morals.
The reports of a Telegram deal surfaced after the Mehr news agency said Tehran had outlined conditions for lifting the app’s years-long ban, including blocking posts that incite ethnic tensions and assisting the judiciary with user data requests.
Telegram, which has been blocked since 2018 following anti-government protests, remains widely used through virtual private networks despite restrictions.
The alleged talks prompted criticism in parliament, where lawmakers warned that any agreement with Telegram must first be approved by the legislative body. One MP threatened to seek the impeachment of the communications minister if a deal were concluded without parliamentary consent.
