WANA (Jul 02) – During Israel’s recent attack on Iran — an assault that lasted 12 days — one of the earliest victims was a 9-year-old girl named Baran. She was killed in the initial hours of the offensive when a missile struck the building where she lived.

 

That night, Baran and her family were visiting her grandmother. Around 1 a.m., Baran, her parents, and her 9-year-old self returned to their apartment on the seventh floor of a residential building in Tehran. They hadn’t even fallen asleep when a powerful explosion shook the building, bringing it down in seconds. The Israeli missile turned their home into rubble and ash.

 

Only one member of the three-person family survived — Baran’s mother, Sayeh, who was pulled from the debris with severe burns. Baran’s father, Ehsan, rushed into the wreckage trying to save his daughter but succumbed to his injuries before he could reach her. The only trace left of Baran’s room was a charred piece of carpet.

Baran Eshraghi and his father , Iranian civilians killed by Israel / WANA News Agency

Baran Eshraghi and his father , Iranian civilians killed by Israel / WANA News Agency

For hours after the blast, there was no sign of Baran. Rescue teams and relatives searched the neighborhood, hospitals, and morgues. No girl in a pink dress was found. Eventually, a small doll she always carried — the one she had named Sara and slept with every night — was discovered near the ruins. That doll led searchers to her body beneath the wreckage of the building’s parking garage. She had been thrown from the seventh floor and buried under tons of debris.

 

Baran was an ordinary child with innocent dreams. Her father was a modest bank employee; her mother worked at Shahid Beheshti University. They had no ties to public figures or government bodies. Yet, in the aftermath, some media outlets and cyber accounts affiliated with Israeli networks tried to falsely associate the family with official institutions in an attempt to justify the killing.

Baran's pink doll that led to the discovery of her body / WANA News Agenvy

Baran’s pink doll that led to the discovery of her body / WANA News Agenvy

Among the remnants of the destroyed home, the family managed to recover a few keepsakes: a pink pillow, some pencils, and books still covered in dust and ash. These small items are all that remain from the short but vibrant life of a child who asked nothing of the world but to dream.

 

Israel claims its military action was an act of self-defense. But the facts tell another story. The attack took place beyond its borders, targeting people who were unarmed, uninvolved in any military operation, and who themselves were the victims of an unprovoked strike.

 

Many of those killed were women and children — individuals with no conceivable connection to terrorism. What took place was not self-defense, but a blatant violation of fundamental human rights, international law, and the territorial sovereignty of an independent nation.

A building stands damaged in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)

Using deceptive terms like “preemptive strike” or “countering threats” merely conceals a plain truth: these attacks serve political aims, not urgent security needs. And in such cases, the killing of civilians — especially children — carries only one name: a deliberate crime, in direct violation of humanitarian norms.

 

These events are a test for international institutions and self-proclaimed defenders of human rights. If such an assault goes unanswered, it calls into question the very principles of national sovereignty, collective security, and human dignity. The world cannot remain silent in the face of repeated crimes like these.