ByALEX WINSTON

JULY 9, 2026 16:02

Half a year after the Iranian massacre of January 8-9, where opposition-linked estimates and internal evidence indicate fatalities between 35,000 and 40,000, this publication shares profiles of victims based on accounts from their relatives.

One such individual was Dr. Mohammad Hassan Ashrafi, a 36-year-old mathematician, university lecturer, researcher, athlete, footballer, father, and eldest son, whom his sibling called the foundation of their household.

Mohammad Hassan was born on November 22, 1989, in Fereydan, Isfahan. He was killed on January 9, 2026, in the Al-e Mohammad district of Isfahan, and was later buried in Isfahan Cemetery.

“My brother, Mohammad Hassan, earned a PhD in Mathematics from the Isfahan University of Technology,” his brother told the Post. “He was a member of Iran’s National Elites Foundation, a university lecturer, and a tireless researcher.”

His brother noted that Mohammad Hassan had secured admission offers from several leading universities in the United Kingdom, opening a promising path outside Iran.

Yet academics were not his sole focus.

“In addition to his academic achievements, he was an active athlete and a passionate footballer,” his brother said.

Within the family, he held another vital position. As the eldest son, Mohammad Hassan served as the one others relied upon.

“As the eldest son in our family, Mohammad Hassan was an exceptionally kind and caring man, and the pillar of strength for all of us,” his brother explained to the Post.

On the night of January 9, the second day of the massacres, the family had gathered for what should have been a joyful event: the fourth birthday of Mohammad Hassan’s young son.

After the celebration, his brother said, they stepped outside together.

“That night, Mohammad Hassan was shot from behind directly through the heart, right before my eyes and the eyes of my parents,” his brother said. “We rushed him to the hospital with all our strength, but it was already too late; every effort to save him was in vain.”

Hospital staff worked to save Hassan

The family took him to Gharazi Hospital in Isfahan. His brother said the medical staff there worked tirelessly that night.

“One important point I would like to emphasize is that the medical staff at Gharazi Hospital in Isfahan worked tirelessly alongside the people and were absolutely extraordinary on that terrible night,” he elaborated to the Post.

But what he saw there has never left him.

“The scenes I witnessed in the hospital that night will remain etched in my memory forever,” his brother said.

Six months later, he said, time has not softened the loss.

“For our family, the loss has not become any easier,” he said. “On the contrary, every day without Mohammad Hassan feels heavier and more painful than the one before.”

The family’s suffering did not end with his killing. According to his brother, it was only after a week of “harassment and endless suffering” that Mohammad Hassan’s body was finally returned to them.

The authorities then imposed restrictions even on how the family could mark his grave, his brother said.

“They even forbade us from engraving the word ‘Javidnam’ - ‘Immortal Hero’ - or the symbol of a tulip, a traditional symbol honoring those who have fallen, on his gravestone,” he said. “They also imposed further restrictions on us, deepening our family’s grief even more.”

'He quietly and softly speaks to his father’s photograph'

Perhaps the most painful legacy of Mohammad Hassan’s death, his brother said, is seen in the behavior of his young son, whose birthday was being celebrated on the night his father was killed.

“In the presence of others, he hardly ever speaks about his father, as though he is trying to hide his feelings or simply does not yet have the words to express them,” his brother said. “But whenever he is alone and believes no one is watching, he quietly and softly speaks to his father’s photograph.”

“It is a sight that breaks our hearts every single time,” he added.

For the family, Mohammad Hassan’s death is bound to the values he lived by.

His brother said he often repeated one sentence: “An honorable person must never submit to oppression. They must stand up for their rights, even if it costs them their life.”

To his family, however, Mohammad Hassan was far more than another name among the dead of January. He was a scholar whose mind had carried him to the highest levels of mathematics, an athlete who loved football, a father whose son still speaks to his photograph, and the eldest brother whose absence has left the family without its anchor.

Six months later, his family says every day without him is heavier than the last.