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Parnia Abbasi: Iranian poet killed by Israel whose bright future became a 'fading star'
'In a thousand places
I come to an end
I burn
I become a fading star
that disappears
in your sky.'
This short poem was written by Parnia Abbasi - a young woman who had yet to celebrate her 24th birthday before, on 13 June, an Israeli missile hit her home in the Sattarkhan neighborhood in western Tehran.
Parnia was killed along with her father, her mother and her 16-year-old brother Parham.
Parnia, a poet with no ties to any military institution in Iran, was a graduate of Qazvin International University, where she studied English translation.
She was teaching English and had just started a job at Bank Melli.
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It was supposed to be a turning point - finally a stable path.
'She had a very gentle spirit. She always dreamed of becoming a great poet," said one of her friends, who asked to remain anonymous, speaking to Middle East Eye.
"One of her biggest joys was reading poetry. I used to envy her for how many poems she knew by heart.'
Following the news of her death, some pro-Israel users and opponents of the Iranian government falsely claimed that Parnia was the daughter of Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, and had been killed alongside him.
But it was later confirmed that she had no relation to Fereydoun Abbasi. Her father's name was Parviz - a retired Bank Melli employee. All four members of her small family died in the Israeli strike.
The building's collapse made it difficult even to retrieve their bodies. The attack targeted Block 4 of a ten-unit apartment complex in Sattarkhan, destroying apartments from the third to fifth floors. It's believed that nearly all residents on those floors were killed.
#ParniaAbbasi, a poet and English teacher, was killed in her sleep.
It was the night of June 12, when her apartment on Sattar Khan Street in Tehran was struck by #Israeli attack.#Tehran #WarOnIran #Israel — Hana (@HanaNabavi) June 16, 2025
'Usually, people are either good at literature or math - not both. But she loved both. Literature and poetry were her passion, and we always saw her with a poetry book in hand," said one of Parnia's relatives, who also didn't want to be identified.
"At the same time, because her father had worked in banking for many years, she also grew to like numbers and dreamed of working in a bank. In the end, she achieved that dream.'
Another friend spoke about the day she got her job offer:
'That day, her eyes sparkled more than ever. She was overjoyed - finally a stable job. She had so many dreams. She loved to travel, wanted to see the world. But above all, she loved being in nature.'
Blood-stained bedsheet
A photo of Parnia's hair on a blood-soaked pink bedsheet went viral inside Iran and left many devastated.
She quickly became a symbol of the toll that Israel's new bombing campaign has taken on the civilian population of Iran since it began last week.
Despite earlier claims from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they were only targeting Iran's military infrastructure, the civilian death toll has climbed into the hundreds.
Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi and a prominent figure in the reformist Green Movement who remains under house arrest, mentioned Parnia by name in a statement on 17 June condemning Israel's attacks.
'Weren't they claiming the strikes are only on nuclear facilities? Then how did our dear Parnia become a victim?'
- friend of Parnia
'Women are always the first civilian victims. From Parnia Abbasi, the young poet and translator, to dozens of others, women have lost their lives due to the aggression of Israel's woman-killing, child-killing regime," she said.
Parnia's home was struck as part of an Israeli operation reportedly targeting a nuclear scientist who taught at Shahid Beheshti University.
While he was believed to be the main target, other homes in the area, including Parnia's, were also destroyed.
She was not the only young woman to be killed in the Israeli strikes on Iran.
But the images of her - a vibrant poet with a bright future - captured public attention in a unique way.
Like the poem she once wrote, she came to an end, burned out, and faded into the sky like a dying star.
'Weren't they saying they only target military personnel? Weren't they claiming the strikes are only on nuclear facilities? Then how did our dear Parnia become a victim?" asked one of her friends.
"How does her death align with what Israel's supporters claim? Isn't this just the killing of innocent
civilians?'
