'It started with a protest, but a revolution is taking shape': BBC identifies many more people killed in Iran’s protests

"If I don't spell retired and protest, who other will?"

The past words of Minoo Majidi to her household earlier she died.

Minoo was 62 erstwhile she was changeable by information forces connected the streets of Kermanshah successful the westbound of Iran. According to her daughter, she was changeable with much than 178 weapon pellets. She died successful hospital.

Following Minoo's death, her girl Roya Piraei posted an Instagram photograph taken adjacent to her mother's grave. Her caput shaven, she was holding her ain hairsbreadth arsenic a motion of mourning and defiance. It rapidly went viral.

"I knew I couldn't talk out. This is each I could bash to amusement however cruel this strategy is," Roya told BBC 100 Women.

Roya's parent is 1 of hundreds of Iranians crossed the state who person been killed portion protesting against the decease successful custody of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old Kurdish pistillate was detained for allegedly not complying with the strict formal codification connected caput coverings and the mandatory hijab for women.

State officials person acknowledged much than 300 radical person died during the protests, but their figures see information forces and pro-government people. According to Iran Human Rights, arsenic of 29 November astatine slightest 448 radical person been killed by information forces, including 29 women and 60 children.

Iran Human Rights judge the existent fig of radical killed is "certainly higher", arsenic they lone see cases they person been capable to verify and they person received a precocious measurement of reports of deaths, which they proceed to investigate.

Using painstaking forensic techniques, teams from the BBC person been capable to verify the identities of much than 75 of those killed.

By searching authoritative records, online sites and societal media we recovered decease certificates, images of funerals and harrowing photos of the deceased. We besides spoke to relatives, activists and quality rights groups to corroborate and cross-check the accusation we'd found.

Our probe confirmed galore of the dormant are women, and that precocious numbers of those killed travel from marginalised taste number groups. The deaths see children arsenic young arsenic seven.

We besides identified that immoderate radical killed were caught up successful the wider unit and unrest surrounding protests, alternatively than being straight progressive successful demonstrations themselves.

"I judge that what's happening successful Iran is not a protestation immoderate more. It started with a protest, but a gyration is taking shape," says Roya.

Roya is from a Kurdish community. Our probe has shown Kurdish areas, arsenic good arsenic regions location to different taste minorities - similar the Baluch successful south-eastern state Sistan Baluchistan - person seen the highest proportionality of deaths.

32 of the names we verified were from Kurdish areas, portion 20 were from Sistan Baluchistan province.

Sistan Baluchistan is 1 of Iran's poorest provinces, and 1 of the astir conservative. Most of the Baluch radical beryllium to Iran's Sunni minority. According to quality rights groups, they look favoritism connected the ground of some religion and ethnicity.

Despite its conservatism, successful caller weeks women person joined protests successful the provincial superior Zahedan. In online videos, women wearing the full-body veil - the chador - tin beryllium seen chanting, "whether with hijab oregon without it, onwards to revolution."

7-year-old Hasti Narouei was besides from the Baluch community. This representation shows her wearing a accepted Baluchi dress.

On 30 September, she was successful Zahedan with her grandma astatine Friday prayers. Social media footage from the time shows information forces responding to a protestation by firing into the crowd.

According to section activists, Hasti was deed connected her caput by a teardrop state canister. She suffocated.

She was her parents' lone daughter. She had 2 brothers, and was conscionable 1 week abbreviated of her archetypal time astatine school.

Amnesty International says astatine slightest 66 radical were killed the time Hasti died, including 10 children who belonged to the Baluchi minority. It was the deadliest time connected grounds since protests started. Activists person named it "Bloody Friday".

For the BBC teams, discovering the identities of those killed successful Sistan Baluchistan state had different furniture of complexity.

As 1 of the astir blimpish provinces successful Iran, radical are not typically online, with astir nary of the regular societal media posting that has enabled the identities of others who person died to beryllium shared. Hasti's family, for example, person not spoken publically astir their girl different than connected strictly-controlled authorities media.

The state besides has anemic net infrastructure, with fewer capable to entree oregon trust connected location broadband connections.

Of the 20 radical the BBC verified arsenic killed successful Sistan Baluchistan province, galore appeared to person had nary societal media oregon different online presence. Their post-mortem photos were the lone ocular grounds of their identities we were capable to find.

Elsewhere successful the country, successful areas with higher net usage, societal media has enabled deaths to get wider attention.

32-year-old Fereshteh Ahmadi, from Mahabad successful West Azerbaijan province, was 1 of 3 Kurdish women we identified.

On 26 October, protests were held passim the state to people the 40th time of mourning for Mahsa Amini.

Fereshteh died aft authorities forces allegedly changeable her successful the thorax portion she was connected the extortion of her house. The authorities has denied this.

The quality authorities person summoned her household for questioning.

A photograph from the ceremonial of a small miss thought to beryllium Fereshteh's girl Bawan, crying whilst holding a fistful of ungraded from her mother's grave, was shared wide crossed societal platforms and viewed millions of times.

On BBC Persian Instagram alone, the representation was viewed by much than 2.5 cardinal radical and received much than 198K likes.

Protestors successful the north-eastern metropolis of Mashad adjacent started utilizing her image connected billboards to item the plight of different children who person mislaid their parents.

Behind the numbers and images are families successful daze and grief. In galore cases, incapable to talk retired due to the fact that of fearfulness of retribution.

Safely present retired of Iran, Roya remembers her parent Minoo. She recalls her zest for life, her endless calm and patience.

"She was sporty and she loved horse-riding. She adjacent coached ping-pong!" she says.

"But I conscionable don't consciousness similar I person had the accidental to mourn her death. It was truthful unnatural.

"The lone anticipation I person present is that Iran volition beryllium escaped 1 day. That those who were killed unjustly, didn't dice successful vain. Iranian radical merit to person a mean life."

The representation showing protests crossed Iran was created utilizing information confirmed by the Critical Threats Project (CTP). The task assigns a assurance level (high, moderate, oregon low) to convey their appraisal of the likelihood that the protestation occurred connected a circumstantial time and successful a circumstantial location. The BBC has utilized confirmed protests from the precocious and mean information set.

CTP uses societal media images and videos and reporting from Iranian authorities media to measure the date, location, and size of protests. The CTP, who person been monitoring protests since 2017, person acceptable their threshold for reporting arsenic a twelve individuals gathering.

A BBC probe successful October named a full of 45 men, women and children who had died successful the Iran protests. On that occasion, journalists utilized the aforesaid techniques we person utilized here, starting with open-source probe and past moving connected to contacting sources, rights groups, relatives, activists, and BBC Persian to stitchery and cross-check data. Post-mortem images oregon ceremonial footage were besides obtained successful astir each cases.

The images were sourced from societal media, quality rights organisations oregon section media.

Reporting by Lara Owen, Firouzeh Akbarian and Khosro Kalbasi Isfahani.

Verification by Firouzeh Akbarian, Khosro Kalbasi Isfahani, Soroush Pakzad and Nooshin.

Production and Visual Journalism by Leoni Robertson and Raees Hussain.

Edited by Rebecca Skippage.

BBC 100 Women names 100 inspiring and influential women astir the satellite each year. Follow BBC 100 Women connected Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Join the speech utilizing #BBC100Women.