AmirAli Amini: This is a detailed account of a tragic night in Tehran’s Mahallati residential complex, as told by Seyed Hossein Mirhashemi, the grandfather of Amirali, to a Rokna reporter.

It was around 2 a.m. on Friday, June 14, when people in several neighborhoods of Tehran were jolted awake by the sound of explosions and missile strikes. In one of those homes, Ali, the maternal uncle in this story, immediately recognized the deafening boom as having struck near his sister’s house. He woke up their father, and by around 3 a.m., the two of them rushed toward the young mother’s home.

“Where is my sister’s house? Where is my daughter’s home?”

All they could see was rubble. Their first thought: no one could have survived. A small four-person family, now seemingly wiped out. But hours later, a call came from an unknown number. It was Amirali’s mother. She and one of her children were alive.

Rescue and debris clearing went on for twelve grueling hours. There was still no word on Amirali or his father, until the grandfather’s eyes locked onto a familiar mattress. He knew it well; he had often sat beside it, telling stories to his grandson and making big plans for the bright future of this little boy. His eyes followed the trail from the mattress, and moments later, he saw the small hands of his grandson. Amirali’s eyes were closed. He was still asleep.

It seemed that the moment death claimed his sweet young life, it blended seamlessly with his dreams, so much so that he never woke up. And perhaps it’s better that way. He never heard the blast. He never felt the terror in his tiny heart.

Amirali was a brilliant 12-year-old boy. His school principal had recently advised the family to enroll him in an elite school for gifted students. He practiced taekwondo and had just met Olympic champion Hadi Saei the night before the tragedy. He couldn’t sleep from the excitement. Inspired by watching Arian and Mehran compete in the Olympics, he dreamt of one day standing on the podium himself, a world-class athlete with a gold medal around his neck.

Now, Amirali and his bright dreams rest beneath the earth. He studied, trained, laughed, and gave hope to his family with his beautiful eyes. He knew nothing of war, and that alone should have been enough to guarantee him a future.