Photo: BBC Persian · Hengaw
Sadra Soltani
صدرا سلطانی
2002–2026
- Born
- 8 February 2002
- Taken
- 8 January 2026
- Age
- 23 years old
- From
- Tehran, Tehran
Kept on this phone only. Nothing is sent.
Their life
Sadra was born in Tehran in February 2002 and grew up in a family of four; both his parents were educators. He had just finished a degree in architecture and was doing a master's in interior architecture, hoping to study further abroad. Iranian culture and architecture fascinated him, and he wanted to draw on that heritage in his own work.
He played the guitar, took singing lessons, sometimes sang with friends and wanted to write songs. He loved Persian literature and spoke fluent English. Friends describe a calm, courteous, quiet young man who helped people without expecting anything back.
In June 2025 a missile destroyed the family home during the twelve-day war; nobody was in that night. It changed him. At his last birthday, blowing out the candles, he wished for a free Iran.
How the regime took them
On the evening of 8 January 2026 Sadra went to the protest in Tehran's Narmak neighbourhood with his parents. When security forces opened fire near Haft Hoz Square, he tried to get his family away. At about 10:30 p.m. he was shot from a height, most likely a rooftop, and the bullet tore his aorta. His father has said the shooter chose between an old man and a tall young athlete, and chose Sadra. He died on the way to Ansari Hospital.
The next day his family were among the first to force their way into the Kahrizak forensic centre, where they had to find him among hundreds of bodies. He was buried at Behesht-e Zahra on 10 January.
