Noone asked why...

The following letter is written by the relatives of Mohammad Kamrani, another martyr of Iran. Mohammad was arrested during the protest on July 9th (18 Tir) in Tehran. His family did not have any news from him until July 14th, when he was transferred to Evin. Little they knew that Mohammad has been tortured in the dreadful Kahrizak detention center all through those days.

On July 15th his parents were informed that Mohammad has been transferred to a hospital.They found him when according to the doctor at Mehr Hospital, he was only 10% alive. On July 16th, Mohammad died from the injuries caused by sever torture.

با نام آنكه هر چه داريم از اوست

هيچكس نپرسيد چرا ؟ فقط زدند و كشتند و بردند.

و هيچكس جواب نداد چرا شعار خوني كه در رگ ماست هديه به رهبر ماست به يكباره هديه به ملت شد ، چرا مردمي كه روزي ملت غيور هميشه در صحنه ناميده مي شدند اكنون بايد شعارشان ((مرگ بر خامنه اي)) ،((مرگ بر ديكتاتور)) و شعارهاي آشناي اين روزها باشد؟ و چرا دولتي كه پشتوانه اش ملت بودند اكنون بايد از ترس همين ملت ، جوانان بيگناه شان را به خاك و خون بكشد آيا جرم اين جوانان بيش از درخواست پاسخگويي به امثال اين سوال ها بود؟ مگر پدر و مادر اين جوانان همان جوانان انقلابي نبودند كه اين نظام را بر پا كردند و به آن مشروعيت بخشيدند؟

آيا جواب اين ملت باج دادن به كشورهاي به اصطلاح برادر براي شكنجه و كشتنشان است؟ اين ملت تا به كي بايد در پاسخ به درخواست شرعي و قانوني خود گلوله دريافت كند؟

18 تير نقطه عطفي در مخالفت هاي اخير بر عليه دولت بود. حتی آن تهدید بی‌شرمانه فرمانده پلیس تهران - که در مورد احتمال راهپیمایی مردم در سال‌گرد 18 تیر- گفته بود: «هرکس بیرون بیاید خردش می‌کنیم» هم کسی را نترساند. نه اینکه نیروهای ضدشورش و چماقدارهای بی‌رحمی که علیه مردم در خیابان‌ها جنایت می‌کنند ناتوان باشند، نه، این مردم ایرانند که حالا هر کدام به تنهایی یک قهرمان هستند. آن‌ها دیگر نه از باتوم و چماق می‌ترسند و نه از گلوله مستقیم آن جانی‌ها (که فقط و فقط سر و صورت جوانان و دختران معترض را نشانه می‌روند) وحشتی دارند.

گرچه دولت از ترس ادامه یافتن و حتی بالاتر گرفتن اعتراضات مردمی، به بهانه آلودگی هوا کشور را در حدود یک هفته تعطیل کرده بود؛ ولی باز بودند کسانی که فریب این نیرنگ آشکار را نخورده و از تهران خارج نشدند. نرفتند تا در پنجشنبه 18 تیرماه، باشکوه‌ترین سالگرد واقعه خونین حمله لباس شخصی‌ها به کوی دانشگاه را با حضور خود در خیابان‌های نزدیک به میدان انقلاب تهران گرامی بدارند. یاد 18 تیر که می‌رفت در روزمرگی و دلزدگی عمومی ایرانیان به دست فراموشی سپرده شود، مثل یک خون تازه از رگ‌های شهر جوشید و به شکل مشت‌های گره کرده برابر ظلم و استبداد قد علم کرد...

عصر پنجشنبه کنترل بسیاری از نقاط پایتخت از دست نیروهای سرکوبگر تا دندان مسلح خارج شد و مردم موفق شدند یک پیروزی تاریخی را در دفتر جنبش جدید خود ثبت کنند. صحنه‌هایی که در این روز خلق شد، کم از آنچه در یک ماهه اخیر رخ داده بود نداشت. هم باز خیل موتورسواران چماق‌دار و لباس‌شخصی‌های مسلح وحشیگری را به اوج رساندند و هم مردم، مردم و باز هم مردم بودند که حماسه آفریدند و زنان، نوجوانان و جوانان و حتی سالمندان با دست‌های خالی از شرف و حق مسلم خود دفاع کردند.

اين در حالي است كه سردمداران نظام دم از احقاق حقوق بشر در جهان را دارند در حالي كه در كشور خودمان به بدترين شكل ممكن اين حقوق زير پا گذاشته مي شود. در شب 18 تير كم نبودند خانواده هايي كه در انتظار فرزند خود شب را به صبح بردند و پس از گذشت چندين روز نتوانستند حتي از محل بازداشت فرزند خود اطلاعاتي بدست بياورند بيخبر از اينكه در اين فاصله جوانانشان را در بازداشتگاه مخوف كهريزك بشدت شكنجه مي دادند تا اينكه در روز سه شنبه 23 تير تعدادي از انها به اوين منتقل و اسامي آنها اعلام شد .

خيل خانواده هاي نگران بود پشت در اوين منتظر كوچكترين خبري از فرزندانشان بودند و غير از تهديد چيزي نصيبشان نشد، يكي از اين زندانيان جوان 18 ساله بيگناهي به نام محمد كامراني بود ، كه اين روزها نامش را كم نشنيده ايم ، پيكر نيمه جان وي را در شرايطي تحويل خانواده اش دادند كه در اثر جراحات وارده بر اثر شكنجه بشدت آسيب ديده و به گفته پزشك بيمارستان مهر در آن زمان تنها 10% زنده بود.محمد 18 ساله در ساعت 4 صبح پنجشنبه از دنيا رفت در حالي كه قرار بود فرداي آن روز در كنكور پزشكي شركت كند. اين جوان نيز قرباني قدرت طلبي حاكمان وقت شد.

ولي سوالي كه مرتبا در ذهن تداعي مي شود آن است كه حكومتي كه بر روي خون جوانان بيگناه بنا شود تا به كي پا برجا خواهد ماند؟

به اميد آزادي

What went wrong?

The biggest difference between a dictatorship and democracy is not how they oppress or respect their people. The biggest difference is in the magnitude of their mistakes. When you neglect huge portion of people who are mostly elite, then you may face serious consequences by underestimating their frustration and power.

Four days after the election, when Ahmadi Nejad was declared as a winner and people were in streets during day asking for their votes to be counted and shouting “God is Great” from rooftops at nights, “Alef” website which belongs to conservative MOP , “Ahmad Tavakkoli” wrote this “story”.

The short of it is, a person who was going to rooftop to shout “God is Great” missed one night of shouting because of a popular Korean TV series showed in Iran’s governmental TV!

As people continued to demonstrate and shout God is Great, Islamic regime took into custody more than 100 famous political activists, journalist, lawyers, etc…

As people took into streets again, the regime looked into his old playbook and tried to link people to BBC and VOA.

As people continued to shout God is Great, Death to Dictator from rooftops, now regime doesn’t know where to look at.

Yesterday demonstrations spread through streets of Tehran and other parts of Iran, without single statement from reformists’ leaders must have been a nightmare for the regime that doesn’t respect well educated, young and energetic Iranian people.

Regime has killed people, has beaten a lot of people, has taken into custody thousands of people, has shut down cell phones, SMSs, internets, has fired foreign journalists, and has closed down the capital for one week because of air pollution, what else they can do? The Islamic regime has wasted its resources too quickly, too prematurely.

People’s demands now is far more than recounting votes, re-election, etc… for the first time they have shouted death to Grand Ayatollah’s son in streets of Tehran. They are aiming at backbones of Islamic regime. This is the difference between a democracy and dictatorship. Things happen very quickly in dictatorship!

We will make history.

In the past few days, the Islamic Regime has taken a lot of its own people as hostages, it has taken a young French teacher a hostage, it has taken Iranian eyes, ears and mouths as hostages. It has fired foreign journalists, it has warned UK and US about the so called “interference” and it has controlled all news papers, journals , most of websites and cell phones. It has mounted pressure on most famous reformists Mousavi , Karoobi and Khatami that they didn’t talk or send a message for the tenth anniversary of brutal attack on university dormitories and finally the regime threatened to demolish any protest by its “almighty force”.

The eve of July 9,2009 was the beginning of new chapter in Iran’s Green Revolution. Brave men and women went to streets of Tehran and other cities of Iran and shouted against the regime that becomes more brutal and wild on a daily basis against its own people.
As sun set in Iran, people have been beaten again. Bones have been broken but souls have been revitalized.

From this day forward:

- Each brave Iranian man and woman is a LEADER.

- His or her mind is the MASTER MIND of the Green Revolution.

- His or her breath is the OXYGEN needed for the movement.

From the eve of July 9, 2009:

- They will not wait for their leader to talk, they will walk themselves.

- They won’t wait for BBC or VOA to send their messages to the entire world, they will do it themselves.

- They won’t ask for support but they will oppose any government that makes deal with Islamic regime that doesn’t have a respect for its own people.

- They won’t classify themselves as Iranians inside Iran and outside Iran; rather they will fight together shoulder to shoulder in two fronts; inside and outside of Iran.


Together, united, we will make history.

Bring Me Back the Meaning of My Life

This is an English translation of a love letter written for Mostafa Tajzadeh by his wife, while he's in the notorious Evin prison and said to be under torture after the Iranian presidential elections in June 2009. A note to consider before reading this love letter from Fakhrosadat to Mostafa: Mostafa and Fakhrosadat were close to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Like many other supporters of Khomeini, they supported the Islamic revolution with good intentions and in recent years they have supported the pro-democracy reform movement in Iran, and are thus considered opposition for the hardliners such as Ahmadinejad. It is worth noting that Khomeini himself was weary of the damage these hardliners could do and did not allow them to thrive while he was alive.

My dear, my sweetheart, my darling

I didn't fall in love with your looks when I was seventeen, though beautiful they were and still are. Because in the two meetings we had when you proposed, we didn't even remember that fondness was what our mothers and grandmothers said it's supposed to be

And I didn't fall in love with your riches as you told me the first day that you had none, none at all, and you told me in later days "because I don't want to lie, I should say out of everything in this world, I have a motorcycle" and I frowned because the thought of motorcycle riding was not beautiful in my mind and I preferred to walk on foot and be late

And I didn't fall in love with your ranks as you had none. You said "I am in the Islamic Revolution Committee, and in the Friday prayers staff" and I didn't care at all what you do.

Honey, I fell in love with your character, and I chose you for your own name "Mostafa" (the chosen one) and you became my chosen one. I, Fakhrosadat, was the baby of the family and everybody was waiting to see who the last groom of our family will be and your brother-in-law told me the day after you proposed "It was as clear as day that you were going to like this guy"

I don't know why he said that but I liked you because you were the man of my dreams in 1981, exactly two years after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. Me, a seventeen year old Fakhrosadat, a fiery revolutionary who cared not for the musts and must-nots that were determined by the norm. I wanted you who wanted nothing other than the ideals and beliefs that were my ideal and belief. And you loved Ruhollah who coupled us together forever, and I want you who are still standing for the ideals you had then.

Oh my partner in life, stay strong for your ideals and know that I'm always proud of you and your perseverance.

You were in a rush for us to get married and I too, and we both insisted that our mentor and leader must solemnize our marriage. We decided that both our families would try to reserve a time with the late Imam. You through Mr. Khamenei and us through Mr. Mohtashamipour who Imam loved like he loved his children Mostafa and Ahmad and everybody knew that. I don't remember which time came first, but on January 27, 1981 we were together on our way to Jamaran for an eternal bond. You remember, I know you remember well, and I still remember your face full of tears in the hands of the Imam, and my own tears, and my own tears, and my own tears

I announced my marriage portion to be a series of the Tafsir al-Mizan and the Imam asked me to determine some money too and I told him to do as he saw fit, and he asked if I knew how to use the Tafsir and I knew, and after a silence he said the vows and I was in a hurry to say "I do" and me and you had no care for where we were and what conditions we had as though we were spellbound. And the Imam told us to tolerate each other and he told me to tolerate my husband and you to tolerate your wife so we learned that intolerance is a possibility in people's lives, and we decided to forever keep the promise we made in front of the Imam and we tolerated each other and the problems of life and its ups and downs and its sweet and sours, but we could never tolerate one instance of separation and now you've just taken your path and gone away?????????????? No they took your path and they took you away my chosen one This was not what we had promised. Do you remember every time we talked about you going to war I would get nervous and you would tell me not to worry for martyrdom requires a grace that not just any guy can achieve, and every time you heard the news of a dear one being martyred, you would get mesmerized and possessed, and when news came that Mohsen had risen to heaven and Hossein had been captured how you treated the families of these cousins so that they would forget the pain of the loss of their children when they smelled your presence and saw all your kindness and compassion, my sweetheart

Do you remember the home we had rented was filled with pictures of martyrs? From Rajayi and Bahonar and Beheshti and Motahhari, to all the relatives and friends who were martyred, and everyone said is this a house or a museum of martyrs? And in one of the last times we moved you cleaned most of the picture frames really well you put them in a box and said their respect must be kept and we took their memories to the depth of our hearts to keep them safe from any harm, and... do you remember all those pictures were smiling except the one of the Imam but we liked the charisma?

I hear in their home to home searches they seize the picture albums, and I'm so glad that you hid those pictures from evil eyes and took them away from dirty hands

I have so much to talk to you about. I don't know if you've heard my voice in these 18 days of division. They say you only hear the "Allah-u-Akbar" chants. I wish our house was still in Sa'adat Abad so you could hear my voice from section 209 in Evin which they say is newly built like the house that was never built for you and for us, and you would say "Fakhri, our lives are coming to an end" and I would say I fear even if we die we won't get a house in the afterlife, and you would laugh and say "which of the departed have ever been left homeless?" and I...now I despise all the houses, any house that is empty of you.

For me to be there and you not, my soulmate and companion where are you? Did those who took has bonded us together and whoever takes us apart would break his you away know that our Imam heart, and are these things even important for those strangers who vulgarly stole you from your house on your mother's birthday?????????????????????? My sweetheart, being away from you is not only difficult for me but for whoever knows you and whose soul is wounded at thought of the slightest pressure on you, it's hard, so hard. I wish I could talk to you even if just for the three minutes they allow non-political prisoners I wish before the interrogator - who I don't know if he knows anything of Islam -- had cut us off I would have told you that we are fine and everyone here is thinking of you in their prayers, and I would tell you that you are not just in my heart but in the heart of all Iranians and all the people you loved with all your heart, for whose rights you fought and stood up and persisted. I read Hamd for the perseverance of you and other dear ones detained and I pray for tranquility for myself and their families and I know there is no one more caring than our God towards you and others and I've left you in his hands and ourselves too, but remember one thing: I chose you for your courage and persistence towards your ideals, don't let the promise we made with our Imam break, my chosen one And one more thing: without you I'm meaningless and life without you is meaningless.

Bring me back the meaning of my life.

Fakhrosadat Mohtashamipour Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Link to the Original Translation

I will participate in the demonstration...

Tomorrow is a big day. It may be my last day.

“I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to trim my eyebrows very thin. Yes, maybe I will drop by the salon before the rally tomorrow! I have to watch some great parts of Hamoon* again.I also have to go through my books. Shamlou** and Forough** are worth reading at these moments. I have to review my family album too.And my friends! I have to call them to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves full of books which I told my family who should get them. I’m two courses away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that now. There is a lot on my mind right now. I am writing these scattered sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and caught up in excitement. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. These words are dedicated to the children of tomorrow …”

- translated from the notes of an Iranian blogger with more courage than most of us will ever know.

*Hamoun: an Iranian movie directed by Dariush Mehrjoui
** "Ahmad Shamlou" and "Forough Farrokhzad": Two contemporary Iranian poets