Hassan Nahid: Agents from the intelligence services came looking for my mother. At that point, she was forced to leave for Berlin, and afterwards she went from Berlin to California in the United States.

Interviewer: Before the fortieth-day mourning ceremony and before Dayeh Monireh left the country, what happened? How did she live, what did she do, whom did she meet, as far as you know and remember?

Hassan Nahid: We were very unfortunate. One of our relatives—do you know the story of Ahmad Moftizadeh? His right-hand man was from our own family: Dr. Khosrow Khosravi of Kurdistan. You see, our family was divided: one part sought the rights of the Kurds and Kurdistan, and another part was aligned with religious movements.

Dr. Khosravi was a general practitioner working in the Hawraman region. He had once defended Kurdish rights, but later he became close to religious circles and eventually Moftizadeh’s right-hand man. At that time, when the Islamic Republic had not yet consolidated its foundations, this relative of ours argued that “they lean to the left, they serve the leftists; they were against the Pahlavi monarchy before, and now they are against the Islamic Republic.” Because of this, my brothers were arrested.

After the execution of my brothers, when my mother returned to Sanandaj, she was told that the authorities were after her as well. We tried very hard to get her out of the country quickly. She was in her sixties then. Out of concern for her dignity and to protect her from possible torture, we arranged a passport for her. Eventually, she came to Germany and stayed with me for a month. At that time, my sister was living in California, heavily pregnant with her first child. We thought our mother could keep herself occupied with the baby, so she went to stay with my sister.

While in Berlin, we organized an event called Kurdistan Night. About three thousand people attended. Artists such as Shivan Perwer were present, along with political figures. The event was organized by the Kurdistan Committee, of which I was a member, and it was held at the amphitheater of the Technical University of Berlin. Iranians and Persians were also present, as well as Germans. The aim of the event was not only to speak about my brothers but also to make the voice of the Kurdish nation heard abroad, to inform others about the events in Sanandaj, Paveh, Mahabad, Mariwan, and Saqqez.

Afterwards, my mother went to the United States, where she remained active for as long as she could. Her home became a gathering place for Kurds from all four parts of Kurdistan. She engaged in Kurdish issues and gave numerous interviews to American newspapers. From that time on, she neither could nor wished to return to Iran. She passed away in 2020 and was buried in California.

Since leaving Iran after the killing of my brothers, she never went back—just like me. We have had no relationship with Iran and its regime, and we regard it as a matter of disgrace to have any such connection.

Footnote

Ahmad Moftizadeh (1933–1993) was a Kurdish religious thinker and founder of the religious–political movement Maktab-e Quran (“School of the Quran”) in Iranian Kurdistan. In the early years of the Islamic Republic, he supported the new regime, believing that leadership of Iran’s Sunni community would be entrusted to him. However, once the regime consolidated its power, it became clear that Ayatollah Khomeini would not permit an independent Sunni movement. Moftizadeh spent more than ten years in prison, where his health deteriorated; he was released only six months before his death.

Interviewer: Did you know the Nahid family personally, or were you not acquainted with them before?

Dinarvandi: No, no—we did not know the Nahid family beforehand.

But when the news of their arrest and execution reached us, we naturally exposed the crimes of the Islamic Republic in every way we could. At the time, some photographs from the execution were circulated, but we had no idea who had taken them. For years we tried to identify the photographer, hoping he might come forward and explain the details of that horrific and criminal incident. Unfortunately, we could not find him. Only recently did I hear that his identity has become known, but we no longer have the means or the conditions to pursue the matter as we once did.

Interviewer: Thank you. After the execution of the Nahid brothers, their mother left Iran…

Dinarvandi: Yes. One of the brothers, Hassan Nahid, was active in our organization here. When his mother arrived, we organized an event for her. It was a very large program and was met with an extraordinary response. At that time, this was one of the very first mass crimes of the regime, after the events in Khuzestan and other regions, so it was widely publicized, and people showed remarkable solidarity. The mother herself managed the program very well, and overall it was a great success.

We even recorded the event on film, but sadly, the tapes were being stored in someone’s house that was later flooded, and everything was destroyed.

The event was held in Berlin, at the Technical University of Berlin, in a hall called Alte Mensa. “Mensa” means cafeteria—it used to be the university cafeteria, but after a new one was built, this older space was used for gatherings and events. The hall had a capacity of about 800 to 1,000 people, and it was completely full.

The program included music, film clips, and slides documenting the crimes of the regime. There was also a paper presented on the new government’s role in repressing the people, on the unfulfilled demands of the uprising, and on the general political situation at that time. The role of Ayatollah Khalkhali in the executions, as well as the involvement of Khamenei, Khomeini, and Rafsanjani in consolidating power, were also addressed.

It was truly a remarkable program. Hassan’s mother, known as Dayeh Monireh, gave a powerful speech. Later, there were performances of Kurdish and Persian music. Altogether, it was a very moving and successful event.