Iran - "Tearing my heart to pieces" - a mother's story from prison in Iran

Narges Mohammadi with Kiana and Ali

By Narges Mohammadi, Evin Prison, Iran 4 August 2015
This blog is taken from a letter from Narges Mohammadi to the Prosecutor General of Tehran in July 2015, in which she also demands better treatment of women in the prison. Since her children left the country, Narges has not been allowed to speak with them on the phone.
 Narges Mohammadi has been in and out of prison for more than a decade for her support of human rights in Iran. Three months since her most recent imprisonment, she writes this personal letter from jail on what it means to be apart from her children.
 My twins were born on 28 November 2006
I was not allowed to hold my son Ali and my daughter Kiana when they were born because of my poor health. I was only able to see them through the door of the hospital room. It seems as if their fate was to be apart from me from birth. When I held them for the first time, all the scars from the caesarean, the difficulties I had breathing, the fear of death and all the pain were forgotten. I had become a mother.
 Amnesty International is calling on Iran to release human rights defender Narges Mohammadi immediately and unconditionally as a prisoner of conscience.