Mehdi Mirzaei

Mehdi Mirzaei (Persian: مهدی میرزایی; also spelled Mirzai) was a 23-year-old hairdresser from Arak who lived and worked in Tehran. He was the only child of a mother who had raised him on her own, and friends described him as her only support.

On the evening of Thursday, 18 Dey 1404 (8 January 2026), during the nationwide protests, he was shot in the heart with live ammunition by government forces on Nabard Street in eastern Tehran. His mother later said that although he was taken to hospital with his full name and details, he was registered there as unidentified. Hengaw and other sources reported that the authorities pressured her to describe him publicly as a member of the Basij militia, which she refused to do.

He was buried in Arak. At his fortieth-day memorial, mourners in Arak clapped, played music and chanted "By the blood of our companions, we stand to the end," a gathering held jointly for Amirhossein Dowlatabadi, a 20-year-old Arak student killed the same day. People later laid flowers at the spot on Nabard Street where he was shot. HRANA lists him among its confirmed victims.