An Iranian-Assyrian Christian fireman was reportedly shot dead by security forces while attempting to put out a deadly blaze at a bazaar in Rasht, northern Iran, during the recent protests. 

Assyrian news sites report that Yohanna Mirpadyab and his colleagues were blocked by security forces from reaching the scene of the fire on 8 January, and that when Yohanna attempted to break through the blockade, he was shot in the head.

Hundreds of protesters are believed to have died in the fire, amid claims that the security forces started the blaze, forced protesters inside, and shot those who tried to escape.

Yohanna’s body was reportedly buried without any ceremony late in the evening, behind a factory in the village of Garfam, north of Rasht. He is reported to have been around 40 years old.

Yohanna is the first Assyrian Christian reported to have been killed during the protests, which are believed to have claimed tens of thousands of lives.

At least seven Armenian Christians and four Christian converts are also known to have been among those killed.

The United Nations Human Rights Council held a special session last week to discuss the “deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, at which a resolution was passed renewing the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Mai Sato, and independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) and calling on the FFM to “conduct an urgent investigation” into rights violations during the protests.