Let Us Water the Flowers: The Memoir of a Political Prisoner in Iran

Having returned to Iran with great hopes following the 1979 overthrow of the Shah, the author joined a secular left opposition group resisting the theocratic orientation of the revolution. He was subsequently arrested and held as a prisoner between 1984 and 1989, an era characterized by major political repression. In this memoir, he describes those years, providing a picture of (and tribute to) the experiences of Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s through his own memories and the testimonies of other prisoners. He also includes an introduction that places these events within the context of 20th century Iranian history. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Jafar Yaghoobi, PhD (San Francisco, CA), was released from prison in 1989 and subsequently escaped to Turkey and then joined his wife and daughter in Germany. In 1990, they all moved to the U.S. He worked as a genetics research scientist in the Department of Nematology and Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis, until his retirement in 2005. Since his retirement he has been active in bringing attention to human rights abuses in Iran.