Rasoul Ziaei: The bodybuilder whose family searched for a week after Jan. massacre - interview

Rasoul Ziaei, a 26-year-old bodybuilder from Lenjan, Isfahan, Iran, is remembered by his family as a young man brimming with joy, ambition, and dreams. He was killed on January 8, 2026, during protests, and his family endured a week of desperate searching before finding his body.

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Rasoul was a young man full of joy for life and great dreams. He was ambitious, willing to take risks, a determined bodybuilder with impeccable character, and always wore a smile on his face.

"Rasoul was a young man full of joy for life and great dreams," his family told The Jerusalem Post. "He was ambitious, willing to take risks, a determined bodybuilder with impeccable character, and always wore a smile on his face." Those who knew him recall his kindness, warmth, and compassion, noting that he "deeply cared about the well-being of others."

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He was deeply compassionate and always cared about the well-being of others.

On the day he died, Rasoul had plans to meet friends and go to the gym. He visited a barber and then a mall before heading to Fooladshahr. Around 9:30 p.m., he was struck by a bullet and collapsed. Bystanders attempted to help, rushing him to a clinic where he was pronounced dead.

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We have neither received nor accepted any financial compensation.

His family faced an agonizing week searching for him, with intelligence services reportedly removing his body from a forensic center. They have received no compensation and feel a profound lack of peace and security. "Justice has become meaningless in today’s Iran," the family stated, expressing fear that even his gravestone might be targeted.

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We live in constant fear that his gravestone will be destroyed. Because there is absolutely no sense of security, we remain in a state of continual anxiety. Justice has become meaningless in today’s Iran.