Preventing Mona Bakhtiari from Meeting Her Mother Nahid Shirpishah Due to Being 'Bakhtiari'

Mona Bakhtiari states that despite traveling 400 kilometers to meet her mother, prison officials in Zanjan prevented her from meeting Nahid Shirpishah because she is 'Bakhtiari.' Mona Bakhtiari, sister of Pouya Bakhtiari, one of the victims of the November 2019 protests, has her father in Qazvin prison and her mother in Zanjan prison due to their pursuit of justice. In a video with human rights activist Yashar Tabrizi, she explains that she and her uncle went to Zanjan prison to meet Nahid Shirpishah, and despite having a meeting permit, prison officials barred her from entering the meeting hall, stating that because she is 'Bakhtiari,' she cannot enter. They told her uncle, 'Do not bring her; you go to the meeting.' Mona Bakhtiari says the prison officials told her, 'You are Bakhtiari. You don't need to go,' and to her uncle, they said that when Mona comes, 'it makes your work difficult. Do not bring her; you go to the meeting.' The sister of the late Pouya Bakhtiari stated that one of the officials said, 'We are here for your security,' to which she replied, 'What security are you talking about? The security that my brother is buried today. My father is in Qazvin prison, my mother is in Zanjan prison, and I cannot see any of them.' Mona Bakhtiari also mentioned that Mehdi Moradi, the head of Zanjan prison, told her that 'he is proud to be a prison guard,' to which she responded, 'What pride, what honor are you talking about?' Yashar Tabrizi added, 'With repression, imprisonment, torture, and execution, you will not achieve anything except to increase the anger of the Iranian people every day.' He expressed hope that 'Iranians will quickly unite and pass beyond this un-Iranian government.'