AN Iranian man has revealed how he was left fighting against his own family after they refused to believe his nephew was "murdered" by the Revolutionary Guards. Meghdad Jabelli told The Sun how he ditched his home and fled Iran after his nephew died when the regime shot down a passenger aircraft using missiles.
![[Medical student Mohammad Amin Jebelli medical student was killed after Iran's IRGC shot down his plane]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_5a2d03.png?strip=all&w=761)
All 176 people on board Kyiv-bound flight PS752 were killed after two Tor M1 surface-to-air missiles hit the plane on a clear morning in January 2020. Meghdad's nephew Mohammad Amin Jebelli, a 29-year-old medical student, was also onboard the flight that morning.
![[A partially burnt document retrieved from the crash site showing Mohammad Amin's profile]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG_3535-1.jpg?strip=all&w=451)
After losing his loved one, Meghdad, who was a professional lawyer in Iran, confronted his family about the crash and blamed the IRGC. However, his family shut him down. Meghdad told The Sun: "When I first heard the news, I was completely heartbroken, like anyone who loses a loved one in such tragedy and an unexpected way.
![[People stand near the wreckage after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers crashed near Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on January 8, 2020]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/176-people-board-ukrainian-passenger-552511436.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"When I confronted my family, they told me I was being fooled by false media reports. They said it’s a war after all and someone may get killed.". "I felt isolated because instead of sharing the pain and grief, my own family stood against me. "I tried to explain from the beginning that this was no accident but a terrible crime, but they refused to believe me. It was incredibly painful for me.
![[Iranian defector Meghdad Jabelli told The Sun his family refused to believe that the IRGC killed his nephew]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_733df8.png?strip=all&w=960)
"I asked myself if should I cry in sorrow, scream in anger or fight against my own family.". Meghdad said he tried to convince his brother Peyman Jebelli, currently the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) which runs all the state TV and radio broadcasting in Iran.
![[Iran's state broadcasting chief Peyman Jebelli]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/www-iranintl-com-en-202301116372-959278600.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
