A Poet and an Ayatollah have Passed, but Iran, the land of Rumi and Hafez, must Endure

When they called your name at midnight,

In your thoughts, morning blossomed from a blood-stained horizon.

The small cells of Evin knew you well,

And the corridor, in its blood-soaked memory,

Had for years echoed the footsteps of martyrs.

Morning passed through you, and dawn opened inside you.

 

                                -Nemat MirzaZadeh for Said Soltanpour*

 

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated by the Israeli military on the morning of February 28^th, 2026, alongside some family members including his wife.

Nemat MirzaZadeh (“M. Azarm”), a nationalist poet and literary figure who supported Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in his quest to nationalize Iran’s oil in the early 1950s, had died of natural causes in Paris on February 3^rd, 2026. He was from Mashhad, a religious city where Imam Reza’s shrine is located. He never got to go back to his beloved country.  He became a refugee like so many others.

Ali Khamenei was also from Mashhad.  Born into a religious family, from a young age, he read, recited and even wrote poetry.  In fact, the two men, with some other learned men had weekly poetry meetings in Mashhad long before the Revolution.   

The two men shared poetry but went completely different routes.  One became a refugee in France and the other one the leader of the Islamic Republic, succeeding Ayatollah Khomeini. Khamenei was not an uneducated man.   He studied at the seminary, went to Najaf and returned.  He knew and appreciated literature and philosophy.  He had even read the works of major western authors. It is said that his favorite was Les Misérables, a novel by Victor Hugo.

He became a hardliner, having also endured six rounds of imprisonment during the Shah’s reign.  His photo is shown in the museum of Ebrat — the former Savak detention center later turned into Towhid prison*.   Khamenei held many posts in the newly established Islamic Republic.  On June 27, 1981, after returning from the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War, he was the target of an attempted assassination, presumably by the MEK or Mojahedin-e Khalq guerrilla group, which paralyzed his right arm.

Khamenei ruled harshly, suppressing dissent. He allowed corruption on the part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Although he, himself, did not amass wealth and lived a relatively humble life, his son and those around him did benefit greatly from the wealth of the country.  Khamenei was a true believer until the very end. At times he could be flexible but most of the time he dealt with the opposition with the utmost cruelty.   The endgame was to protect the ideals of the Islamic Revolution.   He was a Shi’a revolutionary and an exemplar (marja`-e taqlid) for the laity of how religious law was to be practiced.

Nemat Azarm, was a kind human being and lived the life of a refugee without much hope to return. He taught Persian literature at various institutions.   He had also been imprisoned during the Shah and beaten, alongside Homa Nategh, a prominent historian of the Qajar period.

Khamenei’s assassination was an extrajudicial murder, something the Israelis have done with all their foes all over the world.   For them international law does not apply. Khamenei was 86 and ill so he would have died sooner than later. 

Many Iranians celebrated his death inside Iran and outside, but Operation Epic Fury has caused enormous death and destruction, including the death of more at least 168 little girls in Minab, Iran.  The operation by the Israeli and American forces, was launched only two days before a further round of talks was to be held in Vienna, and those negotiations had been going well according to the Omani mediator.   But this war was just a scheme dreamt and implemented in Tel Aviv.   Trump was repeatedly cajoled into the attack by Netanyahu during the 7 trips he made to Washington. 

Ali Khamenei in a trench during the Iran-Iraq War, 1981. Public Domain. Via Wikimedia Commons .

Iran had neither the capacity nor the intention to strike the U.S.  Even some in the U.S. military told Donald Trump that Iran was not an imminent threat. Trump had promised his base never to go into a war.  It was one of his promises during his campaign.   He ridiculed Obama and Biden.  But he betrayed his base.   He went willingly under the guise of an imminent threat, most probably to distract Americans from the Epstein file, from the terrible economy and from the looming mid-term elections.   The same is true for the clearly unbalanced prime minister of Israel, who wants to win the future elections for the Likud party.    

Khamenei is gone and so is Nemat.  But Iran is under daily bombardment with death and destruction on the horizon.  This is happening during the holy fasting month of Ramadan and will likely probably continue through the Persian New Year, or Nowruz. 

This year, there will be no celebrations for Nowruz.    Who can celebrate this ancient ritual when their homeland is under fire?  I can’t and I won’t. 

Iran, this ancient land, the land of Hafez, Rumi and Saadi must stay intact.

 

*Said Soltanpour was an Iranian poet, playwright, and theater director.  He was a member of the Iranian Writers Association.  On his wedding night, he was taken to prison and later executed on July 26, 1981 by the authorities.

* Towhid prison was later dismantled under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami