from the editor

Decades in exile have not been kind to dissident Iranians. Alienated and
persecuted by the Islamic Republic simply for having an alternative
political viewpoint, exile was their only chance of survival from a brutal
theocracy intent on silencing dissent by any means.
Most have either tasted ‘justice’in Islamic prisons or lived in hiding prior
to their escape from Iran. Some have written their memoirs detailing the
horrendous experiences in Islamic Republic prisons. Thanks to these
memoires, public awareness about the atrocities inside Islamic prisons
has steadily increased in recent years. It takes plenty of courage and
emotional energy to delve into one’s traumatic years in prison in order to
document the atrocities and unmask criminals against humanity in detail.
Mehdi Aslani has achieved exactly that. As this book is headed for
publication, Aslani is preparing to give evidence to a landmark trial at a
Stockholm court where Hamid Nouri is accused of crimes against
humanity and involvement in the 1988 Massacre of Political Prisoners.
Swedish prosecutors have included Aslani’s works The Crow and the Red
Rose and The Last Breath of the Rose as part of the Prosecution Dossier in
this trial.

The distinguishing feature of Aslani’s latest book is his focus on families
of political prisoners. Aslani paints a picture of families suffering
persecution by default. Unlike their loved one(s) who knowingly chose to
oppose the Islamic Republic and faced the consequences, families were
largely apolitical and simply caught up in the political cross fire. Their
pain and suffering started at the arrest of their loved one and continues
to this day. Aslani opens a window into an unexplored black box of
trauma and misery. One that researchers can investigate further from
various perspectives.

Translating Aslani is not easy. He is a Persian language expert in his
own right with a solid command of contemporary literature shining
through his speaking and writing. Aslani wrestles with words and twists
phrases to create fresh expressions. Often he relies on mythical, literary
and even social metaphors to convey a message. In doing so, Aslani
challenges the audience to think outside the established modes of
expression. For example in the Persian version of this work, Aslani
selected a poetry verse as a heading for each narrative from the
renowned contemporary poet, Ahmad Shamloo. One has to understand

the context of the verses in order to connect the headings to each
narrative.
This takes me to my next point. The Persian version of this work
contained many details that appear inexplicable to an English speaker.
Enigmatic details that are rooted in Persian culture and traditions are not
able to be understood without background introduction(s). There were
also instances where the narrator(s) stray off topic, use poetic analogies
or get sidelined by details. In editing this work, every effort was made to
allow western audience to establish a rapport with all narratives. There
were also commercial With these constraints in mind, I reluctantly
omitted some sections from the Persian version. For that, I apologise in
advance to all narrators concerned.

Sepehr Manuchehri

FOREWORD

Four years ago The Last Breath of the Rose was released as a portfolio of notes, final letters, literature and artwork by political prisoners during the first decade of the Revolution. This work galvanised my resolve to finally implement my long cherished desire in exile, a work featuring the accounts of families affected by prison during the 1980’s. My mother was a key driver for this project, having suffered years of grief for her son, alongside and beyond the walls of various prisons. The extent of miseries and tribulations that devastated families beyond the walls of Islamic prisons remain largely uncovered as countless accounts about the horrors of the Islamic Regime during the 1980’s remain unreported.

Since it’s inception, the Islamic Regime in Iran has been synonymous with prison. Not wishing to underestimate the sufferings of victims and their families by the Regime in recent years, this work concentrates on the first decade of Islamic Republic, signifying the most grotesque period of prisons. Documenting the accounts of families of political prisoners shines a light on the infinite horrors perpetuated under the Islamic Republic and helps to understand prison processes during the bloodstained decade of 1980’s.

My first priority was making contact with grieving mothers who were mostly in their senior years. In fact, four mothers I planned to interview passed away on the first year of this project. Their loss provided added impetus to expedite interviews with mothers. It was almost impossible to expect mothers to write down the tragedies of those years. The only method, I imagined, was to record their voice through phone calls before transcribing the contents later. But soon I realised this method was ineffective. I had to approach mothers in person and gain their confidence before they could open up and provide their account. Fortunately, once they established confidence, they revealed intimate details that were truly heart breaking. Details that seemed lost in the hurricanes of memories from the 1980’s and unresolved nightmares riddled with tears. I had to listen to the mothers, transcribe the contents and edit into a flowing narrative. Meeting mothers and families based in US, Canada and Australia was ideal. However, it was cost prohibitive and unfeasible. As a result, the project was limited to those residing within Europe. Having said that, I managed to listen to several families during two talking tours of North America.

I never imagined the project to be so arduous, time consuming and expensive but obsessed with the end result, I had no intention of withdrawing. While I initially planned to include 50-60 narratives in the book, the final number increased to 123. They include accounts from 8 mothers’ faithfully reproduced by their children. I conducted interviews with some families as others sent me their accounts via voice files. Each account had to be transcribed and then sent to the originator for review. After amendments and corrections, the final version found it’s way to the book.
I did not seek assistance or provide the accounts/voice files to anyone. I owed it to the families who had trusted me with their accounts to honour their confidence. Often during interviews, mothers would interrupt their narrative to warn me:
‘Darling, please don’t mention this piece, it is just between you and I.’
I also had to distil a long interview of several hours into a handful of pages.
Let me profess that prior to this project, I felt confident about knowing the horrors of Islamic prisons in the 1980’s. However, reading these narratives increased my awareness of these prisons and the sufferings of families.

What can be concluded after reading such narratives? Most are inconsolable narratives that open a window into the enormity of the horrors. Horrors arising from the impasse of repeat tragedies and trauma. Even the children’s stories are unable to rejuvenate the sombre tone of the book, as if the impasse has turned into destiny. These narratives relay their sufferings, attempt to analyse the destiny and draw attention to their loneliness. The 1980’s remains blurry with unreported narratives and accounts.

Families and their suffering during the first decade of the Revolution feature as a central theme in this work. Narratives are inclusive of gender and political affiliation of the prisoners. The book allows the reader to begin from any page. Each account bears the narrator’s name as a heading. Narrators are fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, children and siblings. Two narrators talk about their uncles. The seemingly unrelated or scattered accounts form a connection through the overall text. Like secluded mountain springs, they join together and form a river filled with dreams. The chorus embodies the whispers of alienated families, wishing for an end to the rule of terror. These accounts resemble unfinished poems lamenting someone’s absence and the ever present misery under the Islamic Republic. Empty homes, sombre alleys and silence of familiar voices are evidences of such absence.
Special thanks to dear Sepehr Manuchehri who took on the meticulous task of translating and editing this work to enable English speaking audience establish a rapport with the content. Also special thanks to M. Amini, Reza Talebi, sepideh Zarinpanah, Masoud Mafan and Behrooz Asadi for their invaluable assistance.
Finally, I wish to thank Behrooz Sheyda for his extraordinary support that eventually led to this book. Dear Behrouz, I am eternally grateful for your kindness.

Mehdi Aslani