Tahereh Arjomandi Siyavushi - Bahá'ís of Ireland

Tahereh Arjomandi Siyavushi was born in Tehran in 1953. When she was nineteen she married her beloved Jamshid Siyavushi. After Tahereh married she studied to become a nurse. Her brother, Farrokh, who was living in the United States, tried to persuade Tahereh and Jamshid to go there to him. But they felt that people all around them needed so much help that they couldn’t find it in their hearts to leave. So they stayed at home.

After she qualified, Tahereh worked at a large hospital in Tehran, however, after the Revolution the hospital was compelled to fire her because she was a Baha’i. Jamshid had a shop in Tehran but that was also destroyed because he was a Baha’i, so they decided to move to Shiraz.

Tahereh got a nursing job at a public hospital in Shiraz but then they too fired her because she was a Baha’i. After a while she found another nursing job, this time at a small private hospital.

Because of the war with Iraq, as well as the Revolution, many people in Iran were destitute. Jamshid and Tahereh tried to help all they could. Baha’i or Muslim - it didn’t matter to them who these people were, if they could help they were happy to do so.

On October 26th, 1982 Jamshid was arrested. Tahereh went to the prison every day with fruit and clothes for him but they wouldn’t take any of it. She also tried to get information about him but they ignored her. Tahereh heard that Jamshid was kept in solitary confinement for 6 weeks and that he was being severely tortured. She did know he was being tortured because they brought him home under guard on three occasions to search the house for information on other Baha’is. Jamshid was hunched over and the soles of his feet were so swollen from whippings that he could barely walk.

When Tahereh was arrested on November 29th, she was glad. At least she would be nearer to her beloved husband. Many people - including many Baha’is - were physically tortured while in prison but Tahereh’s torture was psychological. To put pressure on her they brought Jamshid to see her. They would sometimes even describe to her the awful things they had done to him. Tahereh was distraught whenever she saw what they had done to Jamshid but she still couldn’t renounce what she believed.

Jamshid was destroyed physically and mentally but not spiritually. Inside that human shell Tahereh could still find the man she loved and admired.

Tahereh and Jamshid met one last time in early June and she had an opportunity to whisper to him, telling him not to worry about her but just to go ahead and she would follow. Shortly after that meeting, on June 16th, Jamshid was executed. Tahereh was sad but she was also glad that he was finally free.

Two days later, Tahereh was hanged with nine other Baha’i women on June 18th, 1983. She was 30 years of age.

*Wherever there is a hyperlink on Tahereh's name (hover over her name to find it) you can connect with art work produced for the #OurStoryIsOne campaign.

Comhrá

News

Conversations

Ireland & the Bahá'í Faith