Christopher Bellaigue - In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs

A Memoir of Iran

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

This edition published by Harper Press 2005

First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2004

Copyright © Christopher de Bellaigue 2004

Sections of this book have appeared in Granta , the London Review of Books and the Paris Review

Christopher de Bellaigue asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

Extracts from the poetry of Rumi reprinted

by permission of Threshold Productions

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks

HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication .

Source ISBN: 9780007113941

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2013 ISBN 9780007372812

Version: 2019-07-24

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

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Each day more than yesterday,

and less than tomorrow

COVER

TITLE PAGE CHRISTOPHER DE BELLAIGUE In the Rose Gardenof the Martyrs A Memoir of Iran

COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT COPYRIGHT NOTE TO READERS DEDICATION DRAMATIS PERSONAE MAPS OF IRAN 1 Karbala 2 Isfahan 3 A Sacred Calling 4 Qom 5 Lovers 6 Reza Ingilisi 7 Gas 8 Parastu 9 Friends 10 Ashura BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR AUTHOR’S NOTE PRAISE ABOUT THE PUBLISHER HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk This edition published by Harper Press 2005 First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2004 Copyright © Christopher de Bellaigue 2004 Sections of this book have appeared in Granta , the London Review of Books and the Paris Review Christopher de Bellaigue asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work Extracts from the poetry of Rumi reprinted by permission of Threshold Productions A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication . Source ISBN: 9780007113941 Ebook Edition © MARCH 2013 ISBN 9780007372812 Version: 2019-07-24

NOTE TO READERS NOTE TO READERS NOTE TO READERS DEDICATION DRAMATIS PERSONAE MAPS OF IRAN 1 Karbala 2 Isfahan 3 A Sacred Calling 4 Qom 5 Lovers 6 Reza Ingilisi 7 Gas 8 Parastu 9 Friends 10 Ashura BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR AUTHOR’S NOTE PRAISE ABOUT THE PUBLISHER This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings: Change of font size and line height Change of background and font colours Change of font Change justification Text to speech

DEDICATION DEDICATION DEDICATION DRAMATIS PERSONAE MAPS OF IRAN 1 Karbala 2 Isfahan 3 A Sacred Calling 4 Qom 5 Lovers 6 Reza Ingilisi 7 Gas 8 Parastu 9 Friends 10 Ashura BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR AUTHOR’S NOTE PRAISE ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Each day more than yesterday, and less than tomorrow

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

MAPS OF IRAN

1 Karbala

2 Isfahan

3 A Sacred Calling

4 Qom

5 Lovers

6 Reza Ingilisi

7 Gas

8 Parastu

9 Friends

10 Ashura

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

AUTHOR’S NOTE

PRAISE

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Abdolrahman, Hassan: American convert to Islam who carried out an assassination on behalf of the Islamic Republic and then took refuge in Iran.

Alavi Tabar, Ali-Reza: Islamic revolutionary and holy warrior in the war against Iraq who later became an influential figure in Muhammad Khatami’s reform movement.

Amini, Reza: subordinate of the famous Isfahani commander Hossein Kharrazi.

Bani-Sadr, Abolhassan: the Islamic Republic’s first president, who later revolted against Ayatollah Khomeini and was forced into exile.

Bazargan, Mehdi: provisional prime minister after the Revolution, who resigned during the US hostage crisis.

Emami, Saeed: senior Intelligence Ministry figure of the 1990s, alleged mastermind of the ‘serial murders’ of dissidents.

Forouhar, Darioush: a minister after the Revolution, he fell out with the religious establishment and was one of the final victims of the ‘serial murders’.

Forouhar, Parastu: justice-seeking daughter of Darioush Forouhar.

Ganji, Akhar: investigative journalist, jailed for his part in exposing the ‘serial murders’ of dissidents in the 1990s.

Ghorbanifar, Manuchehr: arms dealer involved in the Iran – Contra scandal.

Hashemi, Mehdi: fanatical revolutionary whose rift with the establishment led to the exposure of the Iran – Contra scandal.

Hossein b . Ali: third Shia Imam, who was killed at Karbala in 680.

Khalkhali, Sadegh: revolutionary official, Iran’s ‘hanging judge’.

Khamenei, Ayatollah Ali: second president of the Islamic Republic and Khomeini’s successor as Supreme Leader, or Guide, of the Islamic Revolution.