A bodybuilder nicknamed the “Brad Pitt of Iran” has died after being shot in the eye during anti-regime protests.
Davood Soharabi was hospitalised after being seriously wounded on the night of 7 January.
Doctors diagnosed him with an open globe injury, and he underwent surgery to remove the eye.
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He later fell into a coma and died on Tuesday (24 Feb), aged 30.
Originally from the village of Yam in north-eastern Iran, Davood lived in Tehran, where he worked as a bodybuilding coach.
Just two hours before he was shot in the street, he had won a silver medal at a bodybuilding competition.
His brother said online that their mother had been hospitalised following a breakdown after his death.
Minutes later, the post was deleted and the brother’s account went offline, as reported by Need To Know.
The family is reportedly under strict surveillance and has been pressured to declare Davood a Basiji – a member of the Basij, a paramilitary volunteer militia within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Davood’s funeral was held in Tehran on Wednesday (25 Feb), with his family under close watch by numerous Basij members and plainclothes intelligence agents.
An eyewitness, speaking to foreign-based Iranian opposition media, said authorities aimed to “present him as a martyr”.
“Unlike the usual burials of other victims, which are typically rushed and last only a few minutes, this ceremony lasted about three hours,” the witness said.
“Both the organisation and the eulogies were different from the norm… The extended ceremony was carried out specifically to appropriate his name.”
Davood leaves behind his parents, brother, and a distraught girlfriend.
Before becoming a bodybuilding coach, he worked as a motorcycle courier. His gym students have paid tribute to his kindness and calm nature online.
He often shared photos of himself on social media and dreamed of modelling, earning him the nickname “Brad Pitt of Iran”.
His family has donated his organs.
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