Warning: Distressing content and strong language Samira says she never used to be political. "I worked in sales in Iran. I sold cosmetics," she tells BBC Panorama.
But that all changed the day her only child was shot dead in front of her by Iranian security forces. Sixteen-year-old Sevda was taking part in protests against Iran's repressive regime that engulfed the country earlier this year - before the US and Israel launched widespread air strikes which killed the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Samira's grief became fury as Iran's authorities then hindered, rather than helped, her search for her daughter's body, she says.
"I realised that finding Sevda wasn't the end, but just the beginning of all the harassment they put me through." Samira made a dramatic escape from Iran on foot, navigating dangerous mountainous terrain. She now lives abroad in hiding, describing herself as a "one-woman army fighting the regime". In a search for accountability and justice after her daughter's death, she is intent on naming the members of the security forces and officials she believes were responsible for firing fatal shots during the protests.
"They'll bring me to the brink of death before they kill me, but finding me won't be easy… Return to normal life? There is no going back," she says. Samira is among several Iranians the BBC has spoken to since the start of the year.
Some, still inside the country, told Panorama they wanted to speak out despite the risks, saying they had found it difficult to hold on to hope once the mass protests had been brutally crushed. The Iranian embassy in London told Panorama that peaceful and legitimate protests had been hijacked by foreign powers, including the US, which promoted violence, provided weapons and equipment, and compromised public security. The story of Iranians who have lived through the most turbulent and traumatic of years, with widespread street protests, a brutal crackdown by the authorities and a war launched against Iran by the US and Israel.
Or watch on BBC One at 20:00 on Monday 2 November 2026. Sevda was killed on 9 January as she and Samira took part in huge demonstrations on the outskirts of the capital Tehran which had begun the previous month. They had been sparked by economic discontent, before escalating into calls for an end to the country's Islamic Republic.
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