Fatemeh Soltani,18, was stabbed to death on the streets of Tehran by her father on April 17, according to women’s rights organizations and international media reports. Some reports indicate the father beheaded Soltani before repeatedly stabbing her.
The young woman was killed outside a nail salon where she worked while she was taking a phone call, according to the reports. She had reportedly moved out of her family home as a result of domestic violence, Iran International reported.
Why was Fatemeh Soltani murdered?
A close friend of the Soltani family told the media: “Fatemeh had been living separately from her father and the family for some time due to domestic violence and had achieved financial independence.”
Soltani’s 48-year-old father told police he murdered his daughter following a “family dispute,’ BBC News and women’s groups reported. Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, the police commander of Islamshahr city, reportedly told local media that the father was angry that Soltani had achieved independence.
On Thursday, April 17, 2025, an 18-year-old woman identified as Fatemeh Soltani was brutally murdered by her father in one of the neighborhoods of Eslamshahr. The victim was first beheaded by her father and then stabbed multiple times to death.After his arrest, the perpetrator… pic.twitter.com/YgztxbUUdr
— StopFemicideIran (@FemicideIran) April 24, 2025
In contrast to the reports on his motive, the victim’s brother told Khabar Online that their dad murdered his sister to cover up his infidelity.
An informed source told Iran International that he had gotten his daughter’s phone number and work address from her Instagram business account. The account, now believed to be run by her brother, has since shared videos memorializing the murdered nail artist.
Footage of the attack has circulated online and was shared by BBC News.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran’s Women’s committee said in response to Soltani’s death that “The root of the violence against women and the primary cause of these murders and social tragedies lies in the misogynistic clerical regime, which, in over 46 years, has not even passed the bill to prevent violence against women in its parliament. In this regime, the abuse and even killing of women carries little consequence.
“The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran has called on the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women to investigate this painful situation and to expel representatives of this misogynistic regime from international bodies.”
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