Simin Behbahani, a poet known as the lioness of Iran and for championing women’s rights, has a message for the men and women of her nation: “Don’t give up the fight for freedom.” And, as she told Weekend Edition supervising senior producer Davar Iran Ardalan today, she has written two poems about the turmoil in Iran the past two weeks — one of them for Neda, the young woman mourned around the world because her death during last Saturday’s protests was viewed by millions on the Web and TV. Speaking by phone from Tehran, Behbahani talked about what’s been happening in Iran and recited her poems:
