Iranian political prisoners commemorate decades of resistance

Political prisoners Maytham Dehban-Zadeh and Mohammad Hassani have released poetic messages from Qezel Hesar and Karaj Central prisons to commemorate the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).

Writing from behind prison walls, the prisoners used historical and mythological imagery to honor decades of political struggle and resistance against dictatorship. Dehban-Zadeh’s messages specifically paid tribute to early PMOI members, including Ahmad Rezaei, Mohammad Hanifnejad, Saeed Mohsen, and Ali-Asghar Badizadegan, who were executed under the Shah’s regime in the early 1970s. The poems frame these individuals and successive generations of activists as a continuing chain of resistance aimed at achieving a democratic future for Iran.