Mohsen Mohammadi Kouchaksaraei

Mohsen Mohammadi Kouchaksaraei (محسن محمدی کوچک‌سرایی) was born on 17 Ordibehesht 1364 (7 May 1985), the son of Abdolreza. A building electricity technician in Mazandaran, he was married and the father of two young children, including his son Hami. Friends and family remember a man who loved his family deeply and found joy in the green nature of his home province: picnics, open air, and an ordinary life lived with care for the people around him.

On the night of 30 Shahrivar 1401 (21 September 2022), during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, Mohsen was among protesters on Sari Street in Qaemshahr (Ghaemshahr), Mazandaran. After authorities cut the street lights, security forces opened fire. A war bullet struck him from behind in the lungs. He walked a long distance before collapsing; he reached Vali-Asr Hospital in Qaemshahr still alive, and died there a short time later from severe bleeding in the lungs. He was 37.

His family sought justice. Early in the case, the IRGC told them the shooting had been a “mistake” and pressed them to register Mohsen as a regime martyr, with offers of monthly payments and diya. They refused. According to IranWire, the case later stalled under Judiciary head Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei. On anniversaries, relatives have gathered at his grave, among them Hami, who after winning a school science contest said he wished his father were alive to see him.

Mohsen is remembered for love of family and of nature, and for standing in the front ranks of protest so that others might live more freely.