Iranian Complainant Mothers

Iranian complainant mothers (Persian: مادران دادخواه) or Iranian Mothers for Justice are mothers whose children were killed by the agents of the Islamic Republic in various protests in Iran. These women are the mothers of people who were killed during the 2017–2018 Iranian protests, the 2019–2020 Iranian protests, the 2021–2022 Iranian protests and the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Air Defense.

Also, the mothers of those killed in the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners, who are also known as Mothers of Khavaran,[1][2] and the mothers of those killed during the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, known as Mothers of Laleh Park[3][4][5] and other mothers of those killed during the rule of the Islamic Republic in Iran can be called Iranian mothers for justice.[6][7][8]

Justice demands

By protesting and participating in various gatherings, these women demand justice and the identification and trial of the perpetrators of these bloody events and the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[9]

Gohar Eshghi, the mother of Sattar Beheshti, an Iranian blogger who was killed by torture in a detention center in November 2012, is one of the mothers of the petitioners. After the death of her son, she tried hard to bring Sattar's killer or killers to justice.[10][11] She turned her son's death into a media issue and caused a wide controversy in the ruling political system of Iran.[12]

After Mohammad Taheri was killed in the protests of November 2019, his parents were among those who, without fear, sued for their son's blood.[13] On the eve of Iran's presidential election in June 2021, his mother, Zainab Mohammadi, announced in a video that her vote was not for the Islamic Republic. She said: "We neither forgive nor forget."[14][15][16]

Arresting Iranian mothers for justice

On 12 June 2021, Nahid Shirpisheh, mother of Pouya Bakhtiari, along with political activist Narges Mohammadi, mother of Ebrahim Ketabdar, Jafar Azimzadeh and Puran Nazimi, who had travelled to Shiraz to meet Navid Afkari's family, was arrested in front of Adelabad Prison in Shiraz and released after some hours.[17]

On Friday, 7 July 2021, several Iranian mothers for justice were arrested after gathering in Tehran's Azadi Square and chanting slogans in support of the Khuzestan protests and were released a few hours later. The mothers of Ebrahim Ketabdar, Pejman Gholipour, Farhad Mojdam, Sajjad Rezaei, Milad Mohagheghi, Vahid Damour, and the sister of Hamid Rasouli were among those arrested. Emphasising pursuing their right, they have emphasized in their slogans that they seek to overthrow the Islamic Republic. The mother of Pejman Qalipour, one of the victims of the November 2018 protests, said: "Enough with slavery, we are not asking you to support us, support yourselves."[18][19]

On 11 July 2022, one day before a planned anti-hijab protest, Iran's security arrested families of the victims of the 2019 protests accusing them of "trying to instigate riots".[20]

Security forces raided the home of Rahimeh Yousefzadeh in Tehran on Monday and arrested her and two other mothers whose children were killed by the government during anti-government protests. Yousefzadeh is the mother of Navid Behboudi who was shot dead by security forces in Tehran in November 2019.[21]

Several others, including Nahid Shirpisheh, the mother of Pouya Bakhtiari, and the brother of Vahid Damvar, another victim of government violence, were arrested at their own homes, also on Monday.[22]

In 2023, a number of mothers and fathers of justice and family members of the protesters killed in the cities of Sanandaj, Dehgolan and Divandarreh, who were present to attend the tomb of Mahsa Amini and other killed protesters in the Aichi cemetery of the city of Saqqez, were arrested.[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The history of Mothers of Khavaran – Iran Tribunal". irantribunal.com. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  2. ^ Mothers of Khavaran Archives - Justice for Iran justice4iran.org
  3. ^ Mourning Mothers of Iran Seek Justice iranwire.com
  4. ^ November 2019: The 'Mourning Mothers' Become 'Mothers for Justice' iranwire.com
  5. ^ Mourning mothers of Iran seek justice trackpersia.com Archived 19 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "مادران داغ‌دار و دادخواه؛ از آرژانتین تا خاوران، از کوبا تا بیمارستان لقمان" [Grieving and demanding mothers; from Argentina to Khavaran, from Cuba to Loghman Hospital]. iranwire.com (in Persian). Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  7. ^ News & Opinion Archives. Ms. magazine (English). Accessed 2023-06-25.
  8. ^ "ما از مادران داغدار به مادران آبان و پس از آن به مادران دادخواه تبدیل شدیم" [We went from grieving mothers to mothers of Aban and then to mothers of justice.]. radiozamaneh.com (in Persian). 9 March 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  9. ^ "'مادران خاوران' کیستند و چه می‌خواهند؟" [Who are the 'Eastern Mothers' and what do they want?]. BBC News فارسی (in Persian). Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  10. ^ Witnesses at Iran Tribunal Describe Lost Children, Injuries, Abuses VOA News
  11. ^ "«ستار بهشتی، وبلاگ‌نویس، زیر شکنجه کشته شد»" [Blogger Sattar Beheshti was killed under torture] (in Persian). Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  12. ^ "مادر ستار بهشتی سکوتش را شکست: ستار را کشتند؛ از خون فرزندم نمی‌گذرم" [Sattar Beheshti's mother broke her silence: Sattar was killed; I will not be spared from my son's blood.]. BamdadKhabar | بامدادخبر. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  13. ^ "محمد طاهری؛ قتل یک جوان ۱۹ ساله به دست دستگاه سرکوب" [Mohammad Taheri; Murder of a 19-year-old youth at the hands of the repression apparatus]. توانا (in Persian). 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  14. ^ "فراخوان مادران داغدار و دادخواه ایران" [Call for grieving mothers seeking justice in Iran]. daadkhast.org (in Persian). 9 December 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  15. ^ "مادر محمد طاهری کشته‌شده در اعتراضات آبان ۹۸ می‌گوید رای او نه به جمهوری اسلامی است" [Mother of Mohammad Taheri, killed in November 2019 protests, says her vote is no to the Islamic Republic] (in Persian). 3 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  16. ^ @begoonaah (21 April 2021). "Lost" [The Words of Muhammad's Mother. "Tell me no"] (Tweet). Retrieved 15 January 2026 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "ضرب و شتم خانواده نوید افکاری مقابل زندان؛ بازداشت چند ساعته نرگس محمدی و مادران دادخواه" [Navid Afkari's family beaten in front of the prison; Narges Mohammadi and Dadkhah's mothers detained for several hours]. ایران اینترنشنال (in Persian). 12 June 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  18. ^ فردا, رادیو (31 July 2021). "مادران دادخواه آبان ۹۸ آزاد شدند" [The mothers of the petitioners were released in November 2019]. رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  19. ^ "بازداشت جمعی از مادران دادخواه در میدان آزادی" [Arrest of a group of mothers demanding justice in Azadi Square]. ایندیپندنت فارسی (in Persian). 30 July 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  20. ^ Loft, Philip (19 September 2024). "Two-year anniversary of the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran". commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  21. ^ Islamic Republic Arrests 'Mothers For Justice' Ahead Of Hijab Protests iranintl.com
  22. ^ "Pouya Bakhtiari's Mother Released on Temporary Furlough". iranwire.com. 20 March 2025. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  23. ^ فردا, رادیو (10 June 2023). "«بازداشت» چندین تن از اعضای خانواده‌های دادخواه پس از حضور در آرامگاه مهسا امینی" ["Arrest" of several members of protesters' families after attending Mahsa Amini's tomb]. رادیو فردا (in Persian). Retrieved 15 January 2026.

Sources

  1. Iranian blogger's mother accuses authorities of killing him The Guardian
  2. Brave mothers rise up to expose crimes of Iranian Revolutionary Guards women.ncr-iran.org
  3. Crime: Being a Mother iranwire.com
  4. "Home". Aban Tribunal. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  5. Joint Statement: Iran Should Stop Persecuting Families Seeking Justice for State Atrocities iranhumanrights.org
  6. Grieving In Iran: Mothers Brought Together By Tragic Deaths, State Pressure RFERL
  7. "Iran: Authorities violating absolute prohibition of torture through harassment of witnesses involved in Iran Atrocities Tribunal". Amnesty International. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  8. Grieving Iranian Mother's Fight For Justice Puts Her In Authorities' Crosshairs RFERL
  9. Mothers of the victims of execution seek justice for the perpetrators women.ncr-iran.org
  10. Iran is still waging war on the victims of its crackdowns The Washington Post
  11. Iranian Martyr's Mother Wants Justice Der Spiegel
  12. Arrest of Justice-Seeking Iranian Mother Indicative of Authorities' Fear of Growing Movement iranhr.net
  13. Mass Arrest of November Victims' Mothers and Social Activists irannewsupdate.com
  14. (Video) Iran: Mothers of November 2019 Protests Victims Call for Accountability asiannews.in Archived 20 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Iranian Neda's mother calls for justice UPI
  16. Justice for the victims of Iranian massacre The Guardian
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.