Mona Mahmudnizhad
| Mona Mahmudnizhad | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | September 10, 1965 |
| Died | June 18, 1983 (aged 17) Shiraz, Iran |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Known for | Execution for membership in the Bahá'í Faith |
Mona Mahmudnizhad (Persian: مونا محمودنژاد, September 10, 1965 – June 18, 1983) was an Iranian Bahá'í who, in 1983, together with nine other Bahá'í women, was sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran because of her membership in the Bahá'í Faith. The official charges ranged from “misleading children and youth” because she was teaching children who had been expelled from school for their beliefs and serving in an orphanage, to being a "Zionist" because the Bahá'í World Centre is located in Israel.
Mahmudnizhad was born on September 10, 1965 to Yad'u'llah and Farkhundeh Mahmudnizhad, who had left their home in Iran to teach their religion in Yemen. She was the second child in the family; the family's first daughter, Taraneh, was seven years old at the time of Mahmudnizhad's birth. Mona spent her first four years in Yemen; at age two, she was hit by a car and thrown to the sidewalk, but sustained no serious injury.
In 1969 the government of Yemen expelled all foreigners and the Mahmudnizhad family returned to Iran. They spent two years in Isfahan, six months in Kermanshah and three years in Tabriz before finally settling in Shiraz in 1974. During this time her father repaired small appliances for work and served the Bahá'í community as part of various Bahá'í administrative bodies.
While Bahá'ís regularly faced persecution in Iran, the Islamic Revolution of 1979 refocused the persecution. At 7:30pm on October 23, 1982, four armed Revolutionary Guards, sent by the public prosecutor of Shiraz, entered the Mahmudnizhad household and ransacked the home in search of Bahá'í material. When they were finished, they took Mona and her father into custody. The two were blindfolded and taken to Seppah prison in Shiraz, where they were placed in separate quarters; Mahmudnizhad was detained in Seppah prison for a total of 38 days.
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