Ali Mohammadi, according to his sister who lives outside Iran, was committed to his dreams and worked to make them a reality.
“His greatest dream was the freedom of Iran: that the people of his country could live the way they deserved,” his sister told The Jerusalem Post.
In service of this dream, Mohammadi joined the protests in the streets, where government forces were shooting at protesters.
“Ali, unable to tolerate what he was seeing, picked up a stone and moved toward the armed government forces,” his sister said.
He was shot from behind, bullets striking his head and heart, and fell in the street. Two people with him at the time called his brother, who brought him to the hospital in his car. There, Mohammadi was found to have died when he was shot in the street.
Mohammadi pursued his passions with hard work and commitment
Due to the internet shutdown across Iran, Mohammadi’s sister remained unaware of his death for 23 days.
“I found out in the most painful way: through an Instagram page,” she told the Post.
Before the shutdown, Mohammadi had posted two stories on his Instagram that had worried his sister. She messaged him, asking him to take care of himself.
“The last sentence he said to me is one I will never forget: ‘Promise me that when Iran is free, you will come back.’”
His sister remembered Mohammadi as a man who “chose his path in life and work based on passion and love.”
One of his passions was restoring classic cars, especially old Volkswagen cars. In recent years, he restored three old Volkswagens, taking care to source the smallest original parts from around the world and import them into Iran.
“For Ali, even a car was not merely an object; he gave soul to everything he loved,” his sister said.
Another of Mohammadi’s dreams was to open his own cafe, which he accomplished only three months before he was killed.
His sister described his cafe as becoming “a place of friendship, joy, and kindness.”
In addition to the customers who frequented his cafe, a dog and a cat were daily visitors who Mohammadi cared for. He also kept a large aquarium with colorful fish, whom he looked after.
Mohammadi wanted to name his cafe Shams, after the late Princess Shams Pahlavi, and dreamed of turning it into an Iranian cabaret, a bar with a stage where performers could sing and dance.
While he was forced to name the cafe Shams-Khatun due to government restrictions, he believed in a future without the Islamic Republic. He had ordered a new sign with the name Shams for the day that he’d be free to put it up.
Mohammadi was a strong believer in the Pahlavi dynasty, and dreamed of seeing Prince Reza Pahlavi in a free Iran, his sister told the Post.
“Ali believed with all his heart in a different future for his country, and that hope and dream formed an important part of his character and motivations,” she said.
After his death, Mohammadi’s family received neither a clear explanation nor official responsibility for his murder.
“For us, the most painful part was that, even in order to receive the body of our loved one, we were forced to hide the truth of his presence at the protests, even though Ali had participated in the protests consciously and with belief in the ideal of freedom for Iran,” his sister said.
For Mohammadi's family, justice means accountability
While Mohammadi’s family did eventually receive his body, they were not allowed to choose where he would be buried.
Mohammadi had expressly stated in the past that, should anything happen to him, he wished to be buried next to his father in Karaj. However, his family were not allowed to bury him there or in Tehran, and were forced to bury him in his paternal village around 230 km away.
For Mohammadi’s mother, who is too ill to easily visit her son’s grave, this is particularly painful.
“We are still in deep shock and grief, and accepting what happened has been extremely difficult for us,” Mohammadi’s sister told the Post.
“Alongside the emotional pain, we have faced numerous psychological difficulties, emotional instability, and financial problems,” she said, adding that the family was forced to give up Mohammadi’s business, leading to further financial instability.
Mohammadi’s sister urged the international community to follow the events and human rights situation in Iran closely.
“We ask the international community to act based on human principles and human rights in order to prevent the continuation of violence and violations of people’s rights, and not to allow such tragedies to remain without accountability or follow-up,” she said.
She wants the international community to see the oppression of the Iranian people instead of cooperating with the Islamic regime for the sake of their own interests.
For Mohammadi’s family, she said, justice means identifying all those involved in the protest crackdowns and holding them accountable according to both the law and human rights frameworks.
“It is important to us that there be no immunity, concealment, or cover-up in this process, and that the full truth be revealed,” she said.