Mehdi Hamidfar

Mehdi Hamidfar’s mother survives a heart attack but still waits in front of Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf) to see her son

Since February this year, a small group of families have been sitting at the gates of Camp New Iraq (formerly Ashraf) demanding that the Rajavi cult give access to their relatives inside the camp. The families have sworn to continue their picket until they succeed in seeing them.

One of the group is Mrs Tajaldoleh Heydarian from Kermanshah province, who is 65 years old. She told Iran-Interlink that she has been in Iraq since 6th February and has come to visit her son Mehdi Hamidfar.”I came to the gates of Camp Ashraf and up to now have been refused permission to visit him. I have waited and waited and done everything in my power, but it seems these people have no fear of God and no compassion. They still do not let me see my son”she said.

Mrs Heydarian continued,”On the first of April, as I was waiting alongside the other families picketing in front of the camp, I became severely ill. I was transferred to the A&E section in a nearby hospital. The doctors diagnosed that I had had a heart attack and they sent me immediately to the main hospital in Baghdad for treatment. I am a little better now. Thank God”.

In spite of her sudden and severe illness Mrs Heydarian has said she will continue to wait outside the gates of the camp until she sees her son. It is not the first time she has visited. She told Iran-Interlink that one day in 1997, her son Mehdi had told her he was going walking in the mountains with his friends. He did not return that night and she became worried and so started searching the hospitals. She searched everywhere for him but had no news. For some time all she could do all day was cry. Then, six years later someone contacted her from Nejat Association and said they had news of Mehdi, that he alive and is in Camp Ashraf.

When she visited the Nejat Association office a gentleman introduced himself as someone who had been with the Mojahedin-e Khalq and who had managed to run away. He had received news of Mehdin from another ex-member who had recently managed to run away. But, even though she now knew where he was, nothing could be done until the fall of Saddam Hussein after which it became possible to visit Iraq and look for lost relatives.

Mrs Heydarian’s first opportunity came in 2003. Although Iraq was still at war, she managed to go to Iraq and visit the camp. On that first visit, the Mojahedin allowed her to see Mehdi for two hours. Mrs Heydarian continued,”It was obvious that he wanted to come with me but he was clearly afraid of the Mojahedin. He told me that they will find out and he will be put in prison and tortured if he mentions anything about leaving the camp. I insisted on staying at least one night there but they did not let me stay with my son any longer. I went back home filled with sorrow and disappointment.”

Since that visit, Mrs Heydarian has visited Camp Ashraf three more times but the Mojahedin have refused to let son see her again.

Mrs Heydarian is a widow. She has seven children, five sons and two daughters. Mehdi is her sixth child, the youngest son. She had expected him to be able to take care of her as she grew older, but now she lives with her youngest daughter instead. All her other children are married but Mehdi remains trapped in the sterile cult of Massoud Rajavi unable to leave and live a normal life.

Doctors in Baghdad have warned Mrs Heydarian that she should remain in hospital, under supervision and medication. But like all the families at the gates of the camp whose love for their children is stronger than any concerns for their own wellbeing, she says she will not return home until she sees her son.”My first wish is to see him once more and my next wish is to release him from the clutches of Rajavi and his henchmen”, she said.