Pouya Norouzi

Pouya Norouzi was a 27-year-old Lor taekwondo athlete from Nurabad (Mamasani), Fars Province, a provincial and national champion who in the early 1390s had been invited to Iran’s junior national taekwondo team. Relatives describe him as kind, brave, witty, and without pretence; a patriot who loved Cyrus the Great and hoped deeply for freedom. He was unmarried, had recently given up a billiard club he had rented, and leaves an 18-year-old brother and a 23-year-old sister. Hengaw verified that on Saturday 20 Dey 1404 (10 January 2026) he was shot from behind by a sniper on a rooftop near Haft Tir Boulevard during protests in Nurabad. IranWire adds that the killing came after the funeral of fellow Nurabad victim Kamyab Ahmadi, when mourners tried to march from the cemetery into the city centre and security forces opened fire from the start. Pouya was in the front ranks; after he was hit he was taken to hospital and died during surgery. Authorities pressed the family to accept a Basij label and limit the funeral to two relatives; a large crowd still came. He was buried two nights later in the village of Abgashneh near Nurabad. Friends still speak of the joyful young taekwondo fighter who believed freedom was possible.