Iran killed her teenage daughter - now she is facing up to the regime

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.Though Samira denies she was especially political then, she says her daughter was. Sevda's idols were two other young women - Mahsa Amini, whose death in custody after an alleged violation against the mandatory headscarf triggered mass protests, and Nika Shakarami, who was killed during a subsequent uprising against Iran's strict Islamic dress code for women."She kept them alive in her thoughts and always wanted to continue their path [of resistance]," Samira says.The day before Sevda was killed, the numbers protesting had been particularly high. Samira says she and Sevda had responded to a call by Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah (king), for demonstrations. "The security forces had lost control," she says.The swell in numbers had spooked Iran's government, and the following day a shoot-to-kill order was announced, Samira says. But she had thought it just an empty threat."They lied so much in Ir...