40th day ceremony held for Mohammad Mokhtari

Persian2English – Today afternoon, following 39 days since the death of 22 year old Iranian student Mohammad Mokhtari, his family held the ceremony for the 40th day of his death at Behesht Zahra cemetery, the place of his burial.

In an interview with Rooz on March 15th, Ismaeil Mokhtari, the father of Mohammad Mokhtari asked for the identity of his son’s murderer to be [revealed and] publicized. He says that his son was shot in the forehead.

Mohammad Mokhtari, a 22 year old mining engineer student at Shahrood Azad University, was killed by a bullet during the [Iranian] people’s uprising on February 14th. His last Facebook status was: “Oh God, please give me the honor to die on my feet, for I am tired of living seated and humiliated.”

His Facebook profile picture promoted the rally that took place on February 14th. His close relatives [describe him as an] opposition to the Iranian regime and [there are] photos of him wearing a green wristband. Despite this, at his funeral, his dead body was carried by security and plainclothes forces.

Initially, some websites, including Rooz, reported that Mohammad Mokhtari died as a result of the delay in delivering him to the hospital. But, Ismaeil Mokhtari recently told Rooz that his son was shot in the forehead with a bullet and died in the Imam Khomeini hospital.

(join the Mohammad Mokhtari Facebook page)

Below is the translation of the interview with Mohammad Mokhtari’s father:

The Rooz report above and the interview below are by Fereshteh Ghazi, Rooz
Translation by Taghi Abdolhosseini, Persian2English

Fereshteh Ghazi (FG): Mr. Mokhtari, was your son a protester?
Ismaeil Mokhtari: Mohammad, like the other youth, was open minded. He was in his last year in university for mining engineering. In the polarized disputes of our society, he was supporting the Greens. He supported the Greens and wore the green wristband that he never took off for over a year and a half. But, on February 14th, he took the wristband off and tied it to the house doorknob and left. Today, the wristband remains tied [in the same spot].

[Mohammad] was raised in a religious household. He prayed and fasted, and on holy nights, he travelled to Tehran to be with us. Sometimes, I would ask him to break his fast since he did not eat the meal at dawn, but he would say no.

I have to make it clear that there are two types of religious people, one who became religious after the Revolution and the other before the Revolution. Our family was religious before the Revolution. I have four sons and a daughter. I did the best I could for them so they could receive [post-secondary/post-graduate] education. I told them that I will take care of the costs, even if I was forced to sell the house.

Mohammad had written in his last Facebook status: “Oh God, please give me the honor to die on my feet, for I am tired of living seated and humiliated.”

During [the last lunch before his death], he told his sister that it would be his last lunch. He never took his wristband off during the year and a half [after the 2009 Iranian Presidential election]. I told him to be careful and to not let [political beliefs] make trouble for him. He replied that he would roll up his sleeve to show his green wristband [to anyone who confronted him]. But on February 14th he took his wristband off and tied it to the doorknob and left. When I put all the pieces together, I think that perhaps he was inspired. When I arrived home that day and realized that Mohammad had gone to the protest, I was very worried. But, I never thought that [he would be killed].

FG: How did you find out about your son’s martyrdom?
IM: Someone called and informed me [that my son] was in the Mostafa Khomeini hospital and his head was bandaged as a result of being hit by a stone. We managed to get to the hospital and learned that the truth was a different story. They told us that he should undergo surgery to prevent the bleeding to see how much damage [was caused]. They told us that [the surgery] would take up to five hours, but, less than an hour later, they transferred him to the ICU. I touched his legs, they were cold. He was not breathing. The oxygen tube was disconnected from his mouth. Still, Mohammad’s body was held in the ICU over night. In the morning, they [informed] us that he died at 6:30am.

FG: What part of his body did the bullet hit?
IM: The bullet was lodged in the center of his forehead. During the funeral, after washing his body, I kissed that part of his forehead.

FG: How did you receive his dead body?
IM: They did not give his body to us in the hospital. They said that legal work first needed to be completed and a file must be established. We went to the police station, and, the next day, we did the funeral.

FG: Did you attend the funeral? The reports and photos show that the funeral was performed by Basij forces.

IM: They came to us in the morning and arranged for the funeral to be at 10:30am. My son went to get the body, but he [didn't return until] 2:30pm. We [were] told to carry the body from home to the mosque and then place the body in an ambulance there. [But,] [the family was] still at home when they took the body out and began the funeral. I saw the photos later and noticed that none of my friends and relatives were carrying the coffin. We came, but trailed the funeral. I was at the gates of my house when they had reached the front of the mosque. They stood there and chanted slogans, beat their chests, and filmed the event. This made me very angry. At 5:30pm, they told us to go to the Behest Zahra cemetery. I told them that Behesht Zahra closes at 3 o’clock, but they said it would be open.

FG: In what section is Mohammad buried in? Was the place of burial chosen by you [and your family]?

IM: He is buried in section 249, number 6, in a two-story tomb. His friend is buried below him. [The story of how this happened] is strange. Mohammad had a friend names Rouzbeh. They would always hang out and study together in Shahrood. Then they decided to go to Tehran together. Rouzbeh’s parents had gone to Cyprus. A day after they [arrived in Tehran], Mohammad decided to [return]. Rouzbeh [decided to stay in his house] in Tehran. Later, after not hearing from Rouzbeh, Mohammad went to see him, but Rouzbeh had killed himself. He lay on his bed, his mouth surrounded with foam. There was a broken gas valve in the room. Mohammad suffered a lot. He could not believe it. Rouzbeh’s father…purchased a two-story tomb, and suggested that, one day, Mohammad should be buried there too. We made these arrangements. When Rouzbeh’s body was buried, and after they covered the top, Mohammad…asked to also be covered in soil. We explained to him that this was Rouzbeh’s fate. [Now,] Rouzbeh is at the bottom and Mohammad is on the top. We never thought that the tombstone that he once photographed and wanted to lie in would be his home.

FG: What was written in the death testimonial certificate for the cause of death?
IM: Bullet to the head.

FG: You have not held any ceremony for the seventh night of his death. Was there any specific reason for this?
IM: We had announced that we would hold a ceremony for his third night of death at the Nabi Mosque, and for the seventh night of his death, the ceremony would be at home. They said that the Nabi mosque did not have any open slots. We said that we would hold it at our home instead. But, then the ceremony would have coincided with the February 20th protests, so we decided to not hold the ceremony. On the seventh night of his death, we along with our friends and relatives went to the Behesht Zahra cemetery. The ceremony for the fortieth night of his death is March 26 and we plan to go to his grave and hold the ceremony there.

FG: Have you made any complaint in regards to identifying the person who killed Mohammad?
IM: The first day, they asked if we had any complaints. I asked who we should file the complaint against. But, now, I have written a complaint letter and I will pursue it. They should identify the killer so [Mohammad's] mom may settle in peace, so [we may all] settle in peace. They say that the *Monafeghin (the hypocrites) had killed him, [so then they should] publicize the identity of the killer. My son was almost two meters tall. They had hit him from the front, directly in his forehead. Let us know who killed him…

FG: May I ask how Mohammad’s mother and the other family members are dealing with this right now? Had you ever thought that Mohammad’s participation in the demonstration might…
IM: No body believes it, neither do I. I [still] think that Mohammad is in Shahrood studying in his last semester. He commuted there for four years…He was a young, healthy, and athletic…I always worried that [since he was in another province], he may befriend crooked people, but never could I have imagined something like this. Now, his photo is on the computer monitor, in front of me with open arms, like he wants to hug someone. The green wristband is tied to his wrist. His mom looks at his photos and watches his videos every day. None of our family members can [still] believe [this happened]. We are all waiting for him to come [back]… But Mohammad left us with a belief. He had [published] everything on Facebook and took the password with him…

*Editor’s note: Monafeghin, hypocrites, is the derogatory term coined by the Islamic Republic of Iran to refer to the Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin. Now, the term Monafeghin is used more loosely by the Iranian regime to mean any group that is in opposition to the Islamic Republic of Iran government.