Documentary 'Before Dawn'; Execution of 10 Bahá'í Women in Shiraz

On June 28, 1983, the Islamic Republic executed 10 Bahá'í women in the Chogan Square of Shiraz. Radio Farda published the documentary 'Before Dawn' last year, marking the 40th anniversary of this event; the film is directed by Shahryar Siyami, produced by Kambez Karamati, and collaborated with Pouyan Makari, who conducted the research for this project. This documentary, now being republished on the anniversary of the event, is the first film to specifically address this topic in media outside of Iran, highlighting details that have remained hidden from many Iranians for 40 years. The documentary features footage from an old interview with Hossein Moqimi and Ameh Hani Moqimi Abiyaneh, the parents of Zarrin Moqimi (one of the executed women), who are no longer alive; this interview had not been publicly available before. Zarrin Moqimi's parents not only lost a family member in these executions but were also detained during the mass arrest of Bahá'í citizens in Shiraz that year. These interviews include details of the torture and pressures that Islamic Republic agents inflicted on about 200 Bahá'í citizens in Shiraz prisons at that time. Additionally, some witnesses and relatives of the executed Bahá'í women agreed to appear on camera for the first time during the making of 'Before Dawn.' The youngest of these women was Mona Mahmoudnejad, who was 17 years old, and the oldest was 57-year-old Izzat Janami, who was executed alongside her daughter at dawn on June 28, 1983.