Families of Iranians killed during protests in late December and early January say authorities pressured them to falsify the circumstances of their loved ones' deaths. According to reporting by a major news network and rights groups, officials pushed relatives to register the deceased as members of a state-affiliated militia or claim they were killed by terrorists, foreign agents, accidents, or drug overdoses.

In one case, 13-year-old Abolfazl Vahid Gezeljeh-Meydan was shot in the neck while protesting in Tehran. His family reportedly received repeated calls urging them to say he was killed by foreign enemies and to allow officials to portray him as a martyr. They were also allegedly threatened with heavy fines if they refused to declare him a militia member.

Other families, including that of 29-year-old Fahimeh Ajam, described similar intimidation. Relatives said armed men issued threats outside their homes and warned that even graves could be disturbed if they did not comply. Human rights advocates say the pressure has become systematic and openly brutal, aimed at silencing dissent and instilling fear.

Lawyers and activists report that when families refuse to cooperate, authorities sometimes bury bodies in undisclosed locations or compel relatives to appear in state media broadcasts featuring edited tributes. Meanwhile, the government has escalated its crackdown through the use of the death penalty, prompting the United Nations human rights chief to call for an immediate halt to executions linked to the protests.