“They returned him on condition that no one be told how he died.”
- Age
- 16
- Killed
- Evening of 9 January 2026, Shushtar
- Cause
- Live military round
- Aftermath
- Body released only after the family signed a pledge of silence
- Reported
- Iran International, 20 May 2026
Who was Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai?
Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai was sixteen, a schoolboy in Shushtar, the ancient irrigation city in Khuzestan whose Arab and Bakhtiari populations have carried a disproportionate share of Iran’s protest casualties since 2019.
He was killed by a live military round on the evening of 9 January 2026. His body was held and then released to his family only after they signed an undertaking not to speak publicly, not to hold an open funeral and not to give interviews. Iran International reported the case in May 2026, four months after his death — the delay itself a measure of how effectively the pledge system suppresses the record.
The Two Nights: 8–9 January 2026
On the nights of 8 and 9 January 2026 the Islamic Republic answered nationwide protests with sustained live fire in more than eighty towns and cities, under a near-total internet shutdown. Human-rights monitors describe those forty-eight hours as the deadliest episode of protest repression in the country since 1988, and the beginning of what Iranians now call the Crimson Winter.
Because the shutdown cut most of the country off from the outside world, the record of who died was assembled afterwards, name by name, from family testimony, burial permits, hospital documents and mobile phone footage recovered once connectivity returned. Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai is one of those names.
Video and archive
No verified video of Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai is in the public record that this project can confirm. The film below documents the events in which he was killed, and the Javidnaman archive holds the family photographs and case notes for the January 2026 dead.
Iran’s regime caught between new protests and a US military buildup. More documentary footage is collected on the videos page.
Sources
- Iran International, 20 May 2026
- Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO)
- HRANA — Human Rights Activists News Agency
- Sources and methodology on this site
Why this page exists
Names surface for a few days and then disappear under the next news cycle. This page keeps a dated, citation-ready record of what is known about Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai, with the photograph his family chose to release and links to the monitors who verify such cases. Corrections and additional documentation are welcome through the organisations listed under sources and methodology.
Frequently asked questions
Who was Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai?
Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai, 16, a schoolboy from Shushtar in Khuzestan, was shot dead by a live military round on 9 January 2026. His body was released only after his family signed a pledge of silence.
When and where was Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai killed?
Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai was killed on 9 January 2026 in Shushtar, Khuzestan province, during the crackdown of 8–9 January 2026 and the weeks that followed.
What were the Two Nights?
The Two Nights are 8 and 9 January 2026, when Iranian security forces used live ammunition against protesters in more than eighty towns and cities under a near-total internet shutdown. Monitors record them as the deadliest 48 hours of protest repression in Iran since 1988.
Who documented Mehdi Mehmadi Kartelai’s death?
The case is recorded by independent monitors including Iran Human Rights, HRANA and Hengaw, and in Iran International’s Javidnaman ("immortal names") archive of those killed in the January 2026 uprising.
Related pages
- Taha Safari — another biography from the same period.
- The Two Nights — 8–9 January 2026 in detail.
- The protest record · Faces · Victims database
- All memorial biographies · In Memoriam
