An Iranian football fan who dreamed of going to the World Cup in Qatar has been shot in the heart – allegedly by security goons – in his protest-rocked city.

Mohammedreza Eskandari, 26 – the son of an Iran-Iraq War veteran – had told his friends he was going to the centre of Pakdasht, Tehran Province on the evening of 21st September.

A large anti-regime demonstration was known to have been going on there at the time.

His friends arrived later but failed to find him, and he had stopped answering his phone.

It was after one of the group suggested they go to the city hospital that they found Mohammedreza’s bloodied body there surrounded by security agents.

Medical staff said he was already dead when he arrived at the health facility.

His cause of death was given as “impact of hard or sharp objects” and “shock caused by bleeding – hit by a high-speed projectile”.

It is not clear if Mohammedreza – who had a tattoo reading ‘Freedom’ on his arm – had gone to downtown Pakdasht explicitly to protest against the regime.

His body was handed to his family on 23rd September and he was buried later that day under the watchful eye of security agents.

According to anti-regime media, the agents pressured Mohammedreza’s family and the funeral directors to wind the ceremony up quicker.

Anti-regime media also alleged that some of Mohammedreza’s relatives were summoned by security and judicial officials.

They allegedly quizzed them about his “personal disputes” and the possibility that he was killed by a “personal enemy”.

Mohammedreza loved playing sports and going to the gym. He was also a keen reader and had reportedly devoured all of Iranian writer Sadegh Hedayat’s works.

Republication of Hedayat’s works in uncensored form was banned by the clerical regime in November 2006.

Mohammedreza had been hoping to travel to Turkey on holiday and go to Qatar for the upcoming World Cup.

He is survived by his mother, his father – an Iran-Iraq War veteran – and two older sisters.