Mother Morvarid Nasir(Mother Kayedpour)

Mother Morvarid Nasir, the mother of Dariush Kayedpour, was born in Masjid Solieiman in the Province of Khuzestan in 1310 (1931). She had primary school education and was a housewife. Mother Morvarid died on Wednesday 26 Esfand 1388 (17 March 2010) at the age of seventy-eight in a hospital in Karaj.

Mother Morvarid was born in Masjid Soleiman in a hard-working family. From the early childhood and young age she became familiar with hard work and exploitation. Mother’s common life with Jomeh Kayedpour, one of the labour activists of the National Iranian Oil Company, was the beginning of struggles in which she joined her husband in the NIOC’s labour strife. In the tug of war of NIOC’s workers against the regime of Shah, the Savak arrested and imprisoned her husband many times. In the absence of her husband, Mother Morvarid at the two fronts of work and class struggle was a tireless crusader. Single-handedly, she had one feet in front of the prison and one feet earning bread to provide for her children. 

Two older children of Mother, influenced by the family’s social status and political struggles, became involved in political struggle. In order to visit her children, Mother Morvarid spent her days and nights in front of the prison doors in Tehran for a period of seven years  from 1350 (1971) to 1957 (1978). Visiting prisons became a part of Mother’s regular life and her political activities. For years, Mother travelled from Masjid Soleiman to Tehran to visit her imprisoned children Iraj and Dariush. Mother’s spouse Jomeh died in a traffic collision in Mehr 1354 (Sep.-Oct. 1975) on way back to Masjed Soleiman while returning from the prison. Absence of spouse made Mother’s life twice as difficult. Visits to prison from Masjid Soleiman to Tehran exhausted and wore down Mother Morvarid. Having no choice, and despite all hardships of life, she moved to Tehran along with her children.

With the release of her children from the prison in the months preceding the revolution of 1357 (1978), Mother’s life took a new colour and passion. Like thousands of mothers and activist working women, she participated in the revolution. Mother’s passion and enthusiasm were taken away by the Islamic regime by arresting her children in 1360 (1981). Mother Morvarid once again took the road to prisons in Tehran. She had surprising power and energy; she never lost hope and stood against the hardships and cruelties of the two regimes of the Shah and the Sheikh (mullahs).

On one of the days in Shahrivar 1367 (Aug.-Sep. 1988), Mother Morvarid went to Evin Prison to visit her son Dariush – the same day when the Islamic regime had cut off the prison’s contact with the outside world and were busy in the killing of political prisoners. Mother never succeeded in seeing her children on that day and the days after that. Two months later they informed her of the execution of Dariush. This news broke down Mother and smile never returned to her suffering face. The body and soul of Mother gradually withered away and finally death defeated this tireless freedom fighter.

Mother Morvarid was one of the Khavaran Mothers and a supporter of Iran Tribunal. Like mothers and fathers whose death we have witnessed in the last few years, she had the dream that the court trying the Islamic regime would be held during her lifetime.

Dariush Kayedpour

Dariush Kayedpour was born in Masjid Soleiman in a workering family in 1331 (1952). He was married and a student of Aryamehr University of Technology. At the age of 36 Dariush was executed in Evin Prison by the firing squad. His lifeless body together with hundreds of other leftist and Communist revolutionaries was buried in mass graves in Khavaran Cemetery located in south of Tehran.

Dariush was the prisoner of two regimes of the Shah and the Islamic regime. The Shah’s regime sentenced him to three and half years of imprisonment but he was not released from the prison at the end of his prison term because of his resistance and steadfastness; they kept him one and half year more in the prison. Dariush, together with a number of other political prisoners, was released from the Evin Prison in the winter of 1356 (1977).

After his release, Dariush continued his political activities with the Militants Organisations for the Liberation of Working Class. In 1357 (1978), he was in charge of its party apparatus in Khuzestan jurisdiction. He became a member of the editorial board of the publication Razmandegan In 1360 (1981). After the Organization’s leaning to right, he left it and organized the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Committee which became known as “KAMEL” or the “New Era Freedom-fighters.” Dariush went to Kurdistan in Shahrivar 1364 (Aug.-Sep. 1985) and in 1986, when he left Kurdistan for Tehran, was arrested on his way and was taken to Evin Prison. Dariush was never handed down a sentence. The Islamic regime executed him along with hundreds of other political prisoners in the summer of 1988.  

Texted: 1 June 2014/Translated: February 2021