Ehsan Eshragi: A Father’s Final Embrace

Ehsan Eshragi was a quiet man. A 48-year-old bank employee with no title, no fortune, and no enemies — only a modest routine: a kiss on his daughter’s forehead, a fresh loaf under his arm, and a walk through the sleepy streets of Tehran to the bank where he worked. His world revolved around his wife Sayeh, an ordinary staff member at Shahid Beheshti University, and their only child, Baran — a curious nine-year-old who loved pink notebooks, bedtime stories, and her beloved doll named Sara.

On the night of June 13, 2025, they returned from visiting Baran’s grandmother. The family had barely laid down to rest in their seventh-floor apartment at the Sarv Faculty Complex when an Israeli missile struck. The explosion turned their home into ash and steel. Ehsan rushed toward Baran’s room to save her, but never returned.

Sayeh was pulled from the rubble alive, badly burned. Ehsan rushed toward his daughter’s room, but never made it back. For hours, Baran remained missing, until her doll, found near the parking garage, led search teams to her crushed body under layers of debris. She had been thrown from the seventh floor. A pink pillow, some pencils, and a few children’s books were all that remained of her world.