Hamed Mirzaei lost 12 members of his family, including his 26-year-old wife Mohadeseh, when a residential building in Tehran was struck in an attack. The couple had been married for a year and were just beginning to prepare for a child.
The day of the bombing
Sharing his first-person account with Al Jazeera, Mirzaei described how the March 9, 2026, United States-Israeli attack destroyed his life. On that Monday at around 1:00 pm, he left home to check in at work. At 2:30 pm, his wife messaged him asking to buy headache medicine on his way back. When he called to ask which medicine she wanted, her phone was busy. He then called a guest who was expected at their home, but that line was busy as well.
As he was five minutes from home, Mirzaei heard a whistling sound just as the first missile struck, causing the ground to shake. He tried calling his wife again, but her phone was unreachable, as were the phones of his grandfather, father, and mother. Although he initially believed a missile had hit elsewhere in the neighbourhood and that his home was still standing, five more missiles struck the building.
The aftermath and search for loved ones
When Mirzaei arrived, the neighbourhood crowd had gathered, and the building was reduced to its skeleton and burning. He could not reach the second floor because the staircase was gone, while neighbours from the first floor were trapped beneath the rubble before the Red Crescent rescued them. For 20 days, Mirzaei returned to the site daily, searching through the debris for his family.
Twelve members of his family were killed in the attack, including his wife, his sister-in-law who was visiting as a guest, his father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, aunt’s husband, aunt’s daughter, uncle, father’s cousin, the cousin’s wife, and their child. Mirzaei noted that he was an only child who had expected to grow old with his extended family, but now all of them had vanished, leaving him utterly alone.
Seven months after the bombing, Mirzaei continues to visit the ruins every day, feeling as though his life remains buried there. He stated that anyone who believes war can lead to a good outcome should look at what happened to him and question what is good about it. He added that everything he ever did in life was for his family’s happiness, and now that they are gone, he feels just as dead as those buried beneath the rubble.
