Six months after Iran’s January 8–9 massacre, in which opposition-linked estimates and evidence from inside Iran place the number of dead at between 35,000 and 40,000, The Jerusalem Post is publishing profiles of some of those killed, based on testimony provided by their families.
Among them was Mani Yousefi, a 20-year-old from Tehran whose mother says he gave his life for the freedom of a country he loved, and for the future of the younger brother he hoped would one day live in it.
His mother remembers him as warm-hearted, funny, and devoted above all else to the cause of freedom in Iran.
“Mani was a very warm-hearted and humorous young man who loved the cause of freedom above all else,” she told the Post. “In the end, he even gave his life for that freedom.”
The night before he was killed, Mani had gone with friends to Khoramdasht in Karaj, hoping to help spark protests there. According to his mother, public support at that stage was still not strong enough. Shortly before going, he had stopped by her workplace to say goodbye.
When he returned home, she said, he was deeply saddened.
“Why aren’t people coming out so that we can finally put an end to this?” he asked, according to his mother.
He did not know, she said, that the following evening he would be killed.
Authorities deny responsibility for Mani's death
On January 8, at around 9 p.m., Mani was shot dead. His mother said he was killed by two targeted gunshots: one to his heart and one to his pelvis.
To her, he became Javidnam, an immortal hero.
None of the authorities has ever accepted responsibility for his killing, his mother said. Later, she added, the government’s Martyrs Foundation, Bonyad-e Shahid, telephoned her twice to offer condolences.
She rejected them.
“Yes, they eventually returned the body of my beloved son to me,” she told the Post. “On the very first night, they had taken him to Behesht-e Sakineh Cemetery, after which we were able to hold his funeral.”
But receiving his body did not bring closure.
“I can never and will never overcome this unbearable pain,” she said. “When Mani died, a part of me died with him; a large part of my own being was buried alongside him.”
Mani's brother gives his mother the strength to carry on
She said the only reason she continues to carry on is because of Mani’s younger brother, Makan.
On the evening he was killed, Mani had spoken of him.
“I am ready to take a bullet to the head and die, as long as Makan can then have a good and free life,” his mother recalled him saying.
For Mani’s mother, justice is inseparable from the goal for which she says her son gave his life.
“Justice will exist only when this regime has been overthrown, and our children achieve their goal - freedom,” she said. “That alone is what matters.”
Her message to the world is that the names of Iran’s dead must not disappear into statistics.
“The names of our immortal heroes must never be forgotten,” she said. “If we one day achieve freedom, we will all owe a debt to these immortal souls. They are gone so that we may live in freedom.”