Legacy of McMaster students killed on Flight PS752 lives on 1 year later

It's been one year since Iman Aghabali and Mehdi Eshaghian's lives ended after Iran shot down Flight PS752, but their legacies are living on.

For Maryam Eshaghian, Mehdi's sister, it means taking on a whole new life.

"Before Mehdi's first anniversary, I adopted an 11-year-old boy who has lost his father and is an orphan, on his behalf. And I hope I can do that for more children in the future," she said.

"For his birthday, which is Jan. 14, we will spread a small toy with a chocolate cupcake that was his favourite cake among the working children in the streets."

For Amineh Aghabali, Iman's sister, it means investing in the future of other lives.

"We recently used some of Iman's savings to equip a room in one of these underprivileged schools with all the technology needed for online learning," she said.

"We opened a foundation under his name called Our Iman's Foundation and our goal is to help the children in need around the world with education ... this is our plan to keep his memory alive and maybe this could heal our wounded souls."

Everyone who knew Iman and Mehdi say both of the Iranian engineering students at McMaster University were destined to have bright futures. Iman was 28 and Mehdi was 25.

They, and 174 others on board, died on Jan. 8, 2020, after missiles struck their plane heading to Ukraine. Siavash Maghsoudlou Estarabadi, who spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster in 2018, was also on board.

Death of McMaster students 'broke us all'

Iman and Mehdi's families continue to grapple with grief. Maryam said it has been the worst year of her family's life, and that her brother's death "broke us all."

"My mother smells Mehdi's shirt at night and sings the lullaby she sang as a child to fall asleep, and sheds tears. I have another sister. My sister has two daughters. They both miss their uncle very much and still do not want to accept the fact that Mehdi has passed away forever. My little niece has hidden the souvenirs that Mehdi brought from Canada last year, and every time she sees them, she just sheds tears," Maryam said.

"Wherever I go in the city, Mehdi's memories are there. When he was in Iran, we had very happy and good times together, but now the only thing left is to miss our good past. I miss Mehdi very much and this is a constant pain."

Amineh lives in California and hadn't seen Iman for seven years, but scrolls through their text messages regularly. Many of them are GIFs Iman made.

"I'm amazed we talked a lot, at least one hour a day, and I never realized it until now," she said. "He was always trying to make you smile."

When she reflects on the time they spent together growing up with their other brother, Amin, she says Iman was the "peacemaker" of the siblings.

"We'd play a lot of football — or soccer — in Iran. I was older so I was better at it, and I made Amin cry, and Iman would always be trying to bring peace and say, 'I will stand in as goalkeeper and you guys play.'"

At school, friends and faculty remember Iman and Mehdi as brilliant, optimistic men with humility. Engineering professor Ali Emadi supervised Iman and Mehdi, previously telling CBC News "they were two of our very best PhD students."

McMaster University now has a commemorative bench bearing Iman and Mehdi's names. The school says it sits between two trees planted in their honour just outside the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre building, where both worked with Emadi.

Below their names, the plaque on the bench reads, "A life that touches others goes on forever," in English and Persian.

McMaster also says it has contributed to a provincial scholarship established in 2020 named for those who died in the plane crash.

Questions remain about plane crash

Despite this, there are still questions about why Iran fired missiles at the plane — especially since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived shortly after and overshadowed the tragedy.

"Even the universe is not going in our way and not helping. We could have done a lot without COVID," Amineh said.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims has been seeking answers. Many family members have expressed concerns that speaking out could influence reprisal from the Iranian regime.

Amineh said she feels Canada has done a good job supporting families and looking for more information about the tragedy.

"We need to know who did this, why they did this," she said.

"We are coping. We are trying to get through it with the help of each other."