– Oh, there are so many!, says Kiana Rahmani as she walks in and sees all the chairs that have been set out in the large hall in Oslo City Hall. A little before 1pm on Sunday, she and her brother Ali will arrive in the hall, followed by news’s cameras which broadcast the images directly to the whole world. On 6 October, they learned that their mother, Narges Mohammadi, will receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, things have gone smoothly for the two school pupils. And now they are here in Oslo, together with their father, Taghi. And his uncle Hamidreza, his mother’s brother who had fled Iran and, to the Nobel Committee’s surprise, turned out to live here. Together, they will be a “stand-in” for everything that a Nobel Prize winner usually goes through. The winner himself is in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. In a leaked message, the mother wrote: “Most of all, I long for Kiana and Ali. Especially the days when new prisoners tell about the interviews the two have done… It’s been about eight years since I saw them.” Via secret Iranian contacts, the message was conveyed to Sweden’s Television on the occasion of the Nobel award ceremony. Big tasks await the two young people. On Sunday, Kiana and Ali are the main characters in Oslo City Hall, on behalf of their imprisoned mother, Narges Mohammadi. Photo: Marit Kolberg / news The speech smuggled out The speech Kiana and Ali will give tomorrow was smuggled out in the same way. It is the mother’s wish that the twins perform it together. – Yes, I have bought a very nice dress. A simple black one, says Kiana with a small smile when we ask if everything is ready. – But, excuse the expression, I give “a little shine” in my clothes. What is important; we are not used to such a spotlight being put on what is happening in Iran. Now we need to get the message out, says Kiana. The 17-year-old is casually chewing on a piece of chewing gum and looks like most 17-year-old girls. However, most 17-year-olds do not accept a gold medal, diploma and 11 million Swedish kroner on behalf of their mother. Ali and Kiana, together with their father Taghi, had to sign the Nobel protocol. By signing, they formally accept the Nobel Prize on behalf of their mother. Photo: NTB Growing up on the run The twin pair did not have an upbringing like most others. The family of four lived a wandering life. Both parents were activists, who were constantly on the move to get away from the police and authorities. The married couple fought for a different Iran than what the clerical board wants. – I didn’t understand why we had to move from town to town. Why can’t we just stay home? says Kiana that she asked about. Ali says that for many years they experienced that either one or the other parent had been arrested. But that they always reappeared. One day it didn’t happen. As usual, the mother had made breakfast for them. Kiana and Ali remember eating eggs. And that she asked them to be diligent at school. Then they said yes and left. When they got home, the apartment was upside down. The mother was gone. They haven’t seen her since. They were nine years old then. The father had fled to Paris. After a while, the children were allowed to leave. The most stable thing the two 17-year-olds have had in their lives is each other. – What helped me the most when one of our parents was arrested was that my sister was there. We are extremely tight, says Ali. Kiana nods and says she feels safe when her brother is around. – Then I am happy and can live as normal. We have never been apart. For 17 years we have been “glued to each other”, she says. The two 17-year-olds have come into the world’s spotlight after their mother was chosen as this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in October. Photo: Marit Kolberg / news Misses her mother for “women’s things” Kiana does not hide the fact that she has missed her mother. – As a girl, I had needed my mother for quite simple things. In youth and puberty, when the body changes, I asked my father, who doesn’t have a woman’s body, so he didn’t understand. – So I would have liked to have my mother there to explain things to me. She could teach me how to dress, how to do my makeup. Things like that. But having said that, I have a super dad. He’s super cool, we have a “Disney dad”, says Kiana. They are nevertheless keen to show that they did not have an unhappy childhood. That they had family and relatives who looked after them. And that they are not an unhappy family now. Ali says that he already understood as a small boy that they were not going to live as a normal family. It happened when he saw the Iranian Revolutionary Guards arresting his father. He says he accepted it then and there, because he thought the fight for freedom was important. – Although my father has developed physical problems after four years in prison. Even though my mother could die at any moment, it’s worth it. Freedom and democracy are life. Then he leans forward and says with great seriousness: – My sister and I can proudly say that we have been happy. We haven’t had a bad life. He compares himself to the many people in Iran who live in terrible conditions and who have lost their loved ones. – Jina Masha Amini’s brother lost his sister. I still have mine. There are many who have lost someone, and we will do our best to be their voice on Sunday. On Saturday, Amini’s family was stopped at the airport in Tehran when they were going to France to receive the EU’s human rights prize, the Sakharov Prize. The calls from Tehran ended Narges Momhammadi has said that she is fighting for her children to be able to live in a better Iran than she herself grew up in. But the fight has cost Mohammadi dearly. Since she was first arrested in 2011, she has spent a lot of time in prison. It has taken a toll on my health. And it has cost her time and contact with the children. Previously, the prison authorities allowed her to call Paris once a week. The husband was not allowed to say anything, but the children could talk. But suddenly the phones stopped. Kiana and Ali haven’t spoken to her in a year and nine months. Seeing dad smile At the Nobel Peace Center, a photo exhibition has been created about the mother’s life. And some Alis and Kianas. Because they are in many of the pictures. It is also an imaginary prison cell. The father, Taghi, sat in one. The size is marked with lines on the floor and shows that there is not much space for a grown man. The twins look at the visual prison cell. It corresponds to the cell his father Taghi Rahmani spent four years in. Photo: Marit Kolberg / news Ali is standing in front of a picture of his father. – Unfortunately, we don’t see our father laughing or joking anymore. It is very rare. But here is a picture where he was very happy, almost like a child. – It moves me, because it is something we never see now, he says. Will they see their mother again? The two twins are divided in their views on whether they will get to meet their mother again. Kiana says she is a pessimist and points out that the peace prize may have made Narges Mohammadi even more vulnerable. – The last thing the Iranian authorities want is to have more focus on the situation in the country. She refers to the many prison sentences the mother has been given and fears that there will be no fewer of them in the future. – So I think I saw my mother for the last time when I was nine years old. While the twin brother says he has not lost hope. – I can’t imagine losing her. I know that many have suffered such losses and I know that I have to accept that it can happen. – But I will never prepare myself for the fact that I will lose my mother, says Ali. Follow the Nobel days in news’s News Centre: Every year the mint is given the job of creating perhaps the world’s most prestigious medal, Alfred Nobel’s peace prize. On his deathbed, he wrote a will in which he wanted to award a peace prize to the person or people who work to ensure or preserve peace. Reporter Lars Os asks, why do we have the Nobel Peace Prize?
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They must be mum’s voice – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
