‘My life is buried here’: Iranian man whose 12 family members were killed

Hamed Mirzaei lost his wife, parents and many others in a devastating US-Israeli attack on Tehran.

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Hamed Mirzaei lost 12 members of his family in an attack on a residential building in Tehran. Among those killed was his wife, 26-year-old Mohadeseh [Courtesy of Hamed Mirzaei]

“I miss them. I miss them more with every passing day. At first, I thought that perhaps, with time, our grief would ease and we would find some peace. But we haven’t. As each day passes, I feel worse.

“I was an only child, and I always thought that, although I had no brothers or sisters, I had a large family with whom I would grow old. All my life, the members of our extended family had lived together, side by side. Now all those people, and all the love that flowed through our family, have vanished.

“I am the only one left. There is no one else from my family. I am utterly alone.

“I am living proof for anyone who still believes that war can lead to a good outcome. Anyone who thinks war is good should look at what has happened to me and ask themselves: ‘What, in any of this, is good?’

“The building where I was born, the building where my father was born, the building where I had hoped my child would be born, all of it was destroyed in a fraction of a second. My home and my family were wiped out together. And when I miss them, I truly don’t know where to turn or what to look at.

“Seven months have passed since the day they destroyed our home, and every day, when I wake up, I come here to look at the ruins. I cannot bring myself to leave this place. I feel as though my life is buried here, and I return every day, hoping I might find some piece of it. But there is nothing left.

“When someone asks me what I am thinking or how I feel, I cannot answer. Everything I have ever done in my life was for the happiness of my family. Now I no longer have a family for whom I can do anything.

“Every day, I ask myself: ‘Why do I keep going?’ I have no answer.

“The difference between me and my family, who were killed, is that they were buried beneath the rubble, while I am still walking around. Other than that, I am just as dead as they are. The only difference is that my name is not included among the dead.”