(Today’s Prayer) Iranian youth in his 20s dies mysteriously after burning a portrait of the supreme leader. Will this spark anger and resistance?

Anger is exploding after a 20-year-old activist who burned a picture of Iran's supreme leader died mysteriously in his car, the British Guardian reported on the 8th.

According to Iranian media, Omid Sarlak (22) was found with a gunshot wound to the head and gunpowder traces on his hands in his car in western Iran on the 1st. Police have declared Sarlak's death a suicide, but fellow activists suspect he may have been killed for his views. Opposition media and activists say they suspect he was murdered because his death came shortly after he publicly criticized the government.

Hours before his body was discovered, a video posted to Sarlak's social media account showed him burning a picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Many activists followed suit, burning Khamenei's portraits in solidarity and posting the footage online.

Hundreds of mourners attended Sarlak's funeral on the 3rd, protesting and chanting slogans such as "Death to the dictator" and "Death to Khamenei."

A video shared on Instagram hours before Sarlak's death features the recorded sound of former Iranian shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi giving a speech in the background.

Pahlavi was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution and fled to the United States, where an Islamic government took power.

The Guardian reported that some anti-government activists harbor a longing for the monarchy.

In one of his final Instagram posts, Sarlak wrote, "How much longer must we endure humiliation, poverty, and oppression? Young people, now is the time to reveal yourselves. The clergy are just a stream that the Iranian youth must cross."

Sarlak's death has reignited the same pain and anger seen after the death of Mahsa Zina Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in custody after being arrested by "morality police" for not wearing a hijab in 2022, the Guardian reported.

Bahar Gandehari of the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said it was notable that people were publicly burning photographs inside Iran. He said, “Insulting or burning a picture of the Supreme Leader is considered a serious crime and carries a serious risk of arrest, imprisonment, harsh punishment, torture, and even the death penalty.”

The editor of the Amirkabir newsletter, an Iranian student activist website, said there have been no protests on universities so far over Sarlak’s death because the atmosphere on campus remains highly insecure.

The editor, who does not have official status to protect himself and his staff while working in Iran, said he expects “serious protests” this year or early next year.

“People’s anger is growing by the day over the killing of thousands of innocent people, and they are filled with anguish and anger,” he said.

Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the ousted Shah and currently living in exile in the United States, praised Sarlaq as a hero and a courageous soul who sacrificed his life for Iran's freedom against the oppression of the Islamic Republic.

Source: Newsis

I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” (Psalm 142:5)

We hear that Omid Sarrak, an activist in their 20s, who burned a photo of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was found dead under suspicious circumstances in his car. Despite Iranian police concluding his death as a suicide, the possibility that he was murdered has been raised. Starting with those who attended Sarrak's funeral, protests fueled by anger toward the current regime are erupting across Iran.

God, have mercy on the souls of Iran who have lost family and friends, plunged into grief and fury, as countless innocent people have been murdered for insulting or burning the Supreme Leader's photo.

May Jesus Christ be a refuge for the Iranian people suffering under false rulers. Free the Iranian youth who yearn for liberty and stand against the oppression of the current government through the Gospel.

Lord, may the reviving Iranian church, together with Iranian youth, ponder the times and pray for the nation's future, thereby accelerating the spread of the gospel. May young people who spare no life for Iran be nurtured before Your Word and rise up with passion for the gospel.

May Iranian youth activists be reborn in Jesus through the service of the Iranian church and become new leaders who set all Iran free through the gospel.

Thus, may Iran take its portion among the nations and become a people who exercise gospel leadership as heirs of God's kingdom!