A powerful new memoir by former Iranian political prisoner and journalist Massoumeh Raouf Basharidoust has been released, detailing her 1982 incarceration and dramatic escape from a high-security prison in northern Iran. Escape from the Prison of Iran offers a firsthand account of her months inside Rasht prison, where she was held under the supervision of Revolutionary Guard forces.
Raouf, a sympathizer of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), describes the harsh conditions she endured and the personal losses she suffered during the political turmoil of the early 1980s. In the book, she reflects on the psychological toll of imprisonment and the fate of many fellow detainees who did not survive.
Born in 1961, Raouf was arrested in 1981 and sentenced to 20 years in prison but managed to escape after eight months. Her memoir also addresses the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners in Iran, during which her younger brother was killed. Since then, she has dedicated her life in exile to documenting abuses against political prisoners and advocating for justice for the victims of the 1988 events.
In addition to her new memoir, Raouf has contributed to several collective research publications and authored the picture book A Little Prince in the Land of the Mullahs in memory of her brother. Her continued activism focuses on bringing international attention to what she and other advocates describe as crimes against humanity.
This book is available at the link below:
Massoumeh Raouf – Escape from the Prison of Iran