Lori's Song: The True Story of an American Woman Held Captive in Iran

by Lori Foroozandeh

Though she endured a childhood of physical and sexual abuse, nothing would ever equal what happened to her in Iran the weeks following 9/11. Lori, an American married to an Iranian, had been working and living as an ordinary member of Iranian society for almost 4 years when she had heard rumors that the U.S. was going to be attacked. That was on September 9, 2001. She tried and failed to call home and give warning. The news that all those rumors were horribly true came on September 11th 2001. That was when her husband suddenly announced that they had to go back to the States in case there were repercussions. On September 12, 2001, Lori and her husband were at the Shiraz bus terminal intending to catch a bus to Istanbul and from there to Heathrow and home to the U.S.A. They were totally unprepared for the convoy of troop carriers that suddenly drove up and the armed men who came pouring out to take the hapless couple prisoner. There was no explanation offered. The men took Lori's husband one direction and she another, pushing them blindfolded into the back of the troop carriers with other prisoners, mostly Iranian. Who the armed men were was anybody's guess but they took their prisoners to POW camp in unfamiliar territory and there, Lori was held, tortured, raped, and starved with them for over a month. Her husband was not to be seen again. Lori was rescued with one of her fellow inmates by the girl's family and, after riding a llama for 1-2 days over mountainous terrain; she arrived at the Iran Immigration center. By then, she weighed in at only 70 pounds, was still suffering from the many injuries she'd received at the hands of her torturers, and wanted badly to get home to her family in the USA. Even then, she had to fight Iranian Islamic bureaucracy to have permission to go, as the husband was unavailable to grant it. In any Islamic country, unknown to many western women, the husband or guardian's permission is always required for a woman to travel anywhere. Lori had been married to Mohammad for 9 years and thought she could trust him but, since their arrival in Iran in 1998, his personality and behavior had changed so radically as to make this most recent nightmare highly suspicious. The events told here are true. It was no coincidence that this American citizen had been placed into a concentration camp. In fact, it raises many questions and should be a caution to many!

Genres: Horror, Travel, Middle East, Muslimah, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

About me:
I was born on 12-11 at the time of 12:11, which to me was very odd. I am not one to follow any superstitions or doctrines based on numerology but the way my life has went I now wonder if that birth-date and time, which coincide so perfectly, might in all actuality have a purpose. I am a nurse, teacher, translator, author, entrepreneur, research scholar, and influential mentor and now DISABLED. I lived in Shiraz,Iran from 1998 - 2001. I taught English in Shiraz. I also operated an Immigration Consulting Business in Iran. I value Iran, Iranians and Iranian Culture. My stay in Iran turned out to be a catastrophe, which can be read in my book. I obtained my BSN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing) from Northern Michigan University in 1995, and obtained my MSN (Masters of Science in Nursing) from Shiraz Medical University in Shiraz, Iran in 2000. I have learned a lot in life and one thing is, to never say never about anything because life is a paradox. I have also learned that you can learn from anyone, even if you learn how NOT to be like someone you still have learned. My previous occupations have been and they are diverse but all true, and allow me to elucidate one thing here and now .... These occupations are in no way related to me being Impressionable :) Army: (I married my recruiter after watching the movie Private Benjamin...and they say I'm impressionable...no I'm NOT! Truck Driver: To stay mobile after going AWOL from the Army; after finding out my sister was "dating" my husband back home. Nurse: (Received my BSN in the USA and my MSN in Shiraz, Iran): Had to do this cuz I was dating a doctor...see still not IMPRESSIONABLE :) Corrections Officer: Dating a very high official at the prison...go figure :) Exotic Dancer: An escape from reality and highly drugged on illicit drugs. English Teacher: Taught English in Shiraz, Iran: This by far was my most rewarding occupation. Influential Mentor: This is a tricky one to define: this is based on the premise of: Teaching and conveying to anyone including yourself that with the right amounts of self-belief you or anyone can become anything or anyone; thus you create your own reality. Including the right to be confident in life.
Therefore don't believe in anything unless you want to and if you want to then nothing is impossible.... Therefore you create your own reality.....So...never dismiss anything...life is exactly WHAT YOU MAKE IT... this I THOROUGHLY BELIEVE! :)"

Reviews

[Micki Peluso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lori's Song by Lori Foroozandeh
The true story of an American woman held captive in Iran
Outskirts Press, Inc.

Lori begins her book telling of her abuse as an infant and subsequent adoption into a home with parents who love her. The two older sisters are jealous of her, and the sexual molestation from her older brother is ignored by their mother. Lori is not an easy child to raise and at 15, tells her parents she's getting married--which they must agree to, or she threatens to become pregnant. She marries Mike, who is five years older than she and who manages to impress her parents. The marriage last eight months

What is Lori to do? Join the Army of course--then get pregnant and marry her recruiter causing him to go AWOL. The best thing Lori has in her young life is her son Douglas. She goes through Army Boot Camp and continues a wild life of partying - even in the Army, managing to go AWOL with a girlfriend. They get caught by their own captain at a military party in a hotel. This book is not without irony and humor. She divorces her husband who cheats on her with her sister, only to have her life," plunge into Hell".

Lori marries her third husband, Mohammed Fooroozandeh, at 27, while attending college--ignoring his ex-wife's warning of his violence. She marries in a Muslim wedding ceremony and they live a wealthy life. Mohammed talks her into going to Iran, telling her it is modern now and nothing like its reputation. Dougie wisely decides to try living with his father for a while. When they arrive in Iran, Lori's nightmare begins

At first Tehran looks like any other big city; modern, beautiful and crowded, but Lori soon notes differences, especially in the way women are treated by husbands, fathers, and men in general. She wears typical female Muslim garb, covered from head to toe. Women can be executed for just looking at a man not their husband. Lori sees a man swinging by his neck in an execution, which her husband states is how it should be. She begins to see Mohammed for the man he really is. Lori gives readers an in-depth description of Muslim life and customs, but as she writes, while "she was adjusting to Iran, Iran wasn't adjusting to her".

Lori finds a job teaching young Iranian women but her joy in this is destroyed when one of her students is drowned by her father for being with a man. Mohammed begins abusing her; his mother hates her even though Lori acts as the mother's private nurse. Life just gets worse; Lori is beaten brutally by her husband and rumors abound that America will be attacked on 9/11/ 2001. How coincidental, Lori thinks, that they left right before the tragic event -- Or was it? She tries to call to warn her parents and her country, but can't get through to America. After 911, Mohammed wants to leave Iran for fear of repercussions, but before they get to the airport they are separated, handcuffed and blindfolded and arrested for allegedly stealing from business clients. Lori is in a truck with other men and women captives. She never sees Mohammed again.

Lori is chained to a girl named Faresh. The camp consists of prisoners of many nationalities, held by a radical Iranian religious group, who especially despise Americans. Lori is kicked in the head until unconscious, for asking for a phone. After her horrendous brutality and rape, plus starvation, Lori and the others are taken to another camp. This one is worse than the first and the rapes, beatings, and starvation even more inhumane and relentless. Lori and the other women are raped daily by at least 26 men, in ways too horrible to relate. The women are injected into their gums with heroin. Lori loses 70 pounds and has most of her teeth knocked out or broken. Her captivity is due to being "an American whore". Author Lori Fooozandeh writes of her escape with the help of Faresh's brother, and two men waiting outside the POW camp fence. She makes it to her Iranian home, but is turned away. Lori manages to return home to the United States. She's finally finds lasting true love and acceptance. Lori's goal in writing this extraordinary book is to educate people, especially women, on the perils of visiting or living in a terrorist country. She is also a strong advocate for bipolar depression and posttraumatic stress syndrome, both of which she struggles with on a daily basis. This book should be read by everyone as a reminder of "man's inhumanity to man," It's also a book teaching first-hand, the" terrors" of living with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Reviewer: Micki Peluso, writer, journalist and author of . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang

[J.F. Elferdink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Lori’s Song is like listening to a friend tell me the details of a nightmare, a nightmare right out of a novel by the likes of Stephen King or Edgar Allen Poe—but this nightmare really happened. I use the example of hearing a storyteller rather than reading literature because Lori’s writing style is casual, with the kinds of grammatical errors we make when talking to friends. And our friends don’t care because it’s the quality of the story that keeps us engrossed.

Lori’s real-life experiences are engrossing and so horrific I wouldn’t go to a movie that forced me to watch the hell she went through. Lori writes enough detail that I could envision the scenes but not so much that my images were in living color (e.g., the red of beatings and rapes).

Although it’s certainly not a book I enjoyed reading, it was a necessary read to understand how some people in this world vent their anger, frustration, even purposeful evil intent on the innocent. Awareness brings with it a call to action to support the victims and to join with others to stop the madness! That, I believe, is Lori’s purpose for publishing her story. May we honor her courage with our protests.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lori's Song is a very heartfelt and heart-wrenching story of Lori's imprisonment in an Iranian POW camp just after 9/11. However it is much more than that, as it also touches on her childhood, her earlier life with her Iranian husband Mohammad, and the culture of Iran, among other things.

I found that the writing-style could be a little disjointed, the thoughts a little scattered, so it didn't "flow" like a lyrically well-written novel by an experienced author. And at times it can be a little repetitive. However this is a memoir, not a novel, and it reads more like a letter from your girlfriend who is sharing her sorrows and triumphs with you. It was real. There didn't seem to be the heavy editing or guidance in the structure of the story or maintaining a good flow that can be expected with a big publishing company. The book is riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors. But it's a very personal memoir. It was Lori's conscious decision to not go with a large publishing outfit, as she didn't want them to heavily edit her story. And I understand this.

I don't want any criticisms to detract from this story, as I think that it is important to read. As I've said before, one of my favorite mottos is "The only good is knowledge and the only evil ignorance." We must not be ignorant, and Lori has graciously and bravely bared her soul and her life to us so that we may be knowledgeable of the possible dangers of being an American in a country like Iran. She hasn't sugar-coated her own past behaviour or actions. She has laid it all on the table. For that I thank her.

She mentions at one point that she heard that anyone possessing an American passport was picked up, but was unsure the reasoning behind it. My own half-baked theory is that perhaps it was in preparation of an attack by the US, to have a bargaining tool or use them to create a barrier. Lori said herself that it was believed that America would lash out at all middle eastern countries for retribution. Or perhaps it was simply fueled by a hatred of America, and there was no point other than for "fun" and revenge against "the big Satan".

The bottom line is this: Read it! It is graphically violent, disturbing and heart-breaking, but it is also important. If you are of a sensitive nature, perhaps you should stray away from reading the book, because there is some very disturbing imagery, and it is real. It isn't "just a story". I was prepared for what I read. I was aware of the atrocities that go on in other countries, I've read other accounts outlining how it is culturally acceptable in some areas for a father to kill his daughter for the merest of infractions, of a young teen girl who was raped and gave birth to the child that was conceived during the rape, and then removed from the hospital by the authorities shortly after the babies birth, only to be stoned to death for the crime of adultery. And I worked with an Iranian man who had explained to me twenty years ago that an Iranian man was legally permitted to kill his wife for adultery (he doesn't even have to prove that she is guilty. Suspicion alone is grounds enough). You, too, should be prepared before taking on this book.

And after reading it, you should be even more amazed at the strength of those middle-eastern women who have chosen to stand up and fight for their rights. I am in awe of the courage that it takes with the constant threat of death hanging over your head. I'll never forget the Saudia Arabian woman who, when asked about how women were viewed in her country, said to the interviewer, "We are shoes. When a husband tires of his wife, he throws her away like an old pair of shoes. We are like shoes." I think that this excerpt from Lori's article about Iranian women says it best:

The Iranian woman is oppressed yet rebellious. She is subjugated yet unruly. She is controlled yet defiant. She is hushed and subservient. She is a religious fanatic living a secluded life. She is a revolutionary, a fighter, yet segregated and oppressed. Willing to die for her nation, she is a mother and a wife.

I think that Lori's biggest hope is that young American girls and women will be aware of life in other countries, and enter them with full knowledge of the risks involved. Also that we will see outside of our own little worlds to understand what is going on in the rest of the world, and who these people really are that we share this planet with, and that you shouldn't allow prejudice to cloud your opinion of a whole race of people based on the actions of a few.

[Sharla Lee Shults · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lori's Song - The Lori Foroozandeh Story

There are stories upon stories of abuse, some bare all and others simply touch upon the actual event. Lori's song is the former with nothing left to the imagination. As I read, I found it very difficult to understand how any other human being could inflict such cruelty upon another without remorse, totally unfeeling, and completely void of any care or concern. These people do exist and they are not limited to any one country or origin.

While the purpose of Lori's Song is to reflect on her time spent/lived in Iran, Lori discloses far more which transpired way before these events. Some reflected bad choices which is not uncommon in past history nor in today's society, others befell her as an innocent victim. Lori endured so much in her life prior to her captivity in Iran that perhaps these, as horrible as they were, actually strengthened her will for survival. I will not go into detail here for this is an author's rating and review, not a retelling of her book. I can say, you will find this story leaving you shocked beyond words, breathless at times, wrenchingly heart broken and filled with suspense to the very end. This is more than just a story of survival: it is hope within the most adverse situations one can imagine.

There are parts of Lori's story that leave unanswered questions to this day. The timing of her captivity centers around 9/11 and for her, she will always ponder the connection of her captivity to the violent hatred for Americans disclosed in her presence. Even upon her return to America, the trauma she experienced was scrutinized questioningly and shunned. The visibility alone of her bruised, broken and frail body should have been enough to eliminate any doubt or question.

Unfortunately, she is not alone in her tortured world, within herself, inside the home nor outside the boundaries of her home country. Many others have and probably will walk in Lori's shoes. Perhaps her story will reach out to others with a message of hope within a sheer will to survive despite all odds.

It is important for me as a reviewer to note that I did find some repetitiveness without which the story would have flowed somewhat smoother. There are grammatical errors that should have been corrected but these alone do not detract from the credibility of the author. There is definitely not enough to warrant lowering the rating of her book. For Lori, let the writing and publishing of her book be a learning experience. For her readers, she laid her life on the line through all she endured as well as exposing her story to the world. Yet, through it all she found times for compassion and understanding for a culture much different from her own even in times of utter despair and for those who held no empathy.

[Trevor Veale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lori's Song by Lori Foroozandeh is a story of lifelong heartbreak and abuse of someone left for her first six months in an undernourished state and adopted, only to be bullied, neglected and eventually sexually abused at age thirteen. The story Foroozandeh tells falls naturally into three stages, the first being her harsh and painful childhood and adolescence, followed by early marriage, violence and a spell in the US army marked by wild parties and going AWOL.
The second part begins when, at college in Michigan her home state, Foroozandeh meets and marries Mohammad, an Iranian owner of car dealerships and a concealed heroine habit. The severe pain from a road accident leads to her developing a Vicodin addiction and committing the felony of prescription forgery. Mohammad finagles a judge's release and the couple fly to Iran where there is a further descent into hell for Lori.
Life in Shiraz with Mohammad and his family means confinement in a cockroach-infested apartment and the disdain of Mohammad's mother until Foroozandeh resourcefully secures a position teaching English to girls in a language institute and later builds a immigration consulting business which she runs with her husband.
She doesn't hold back on the cruelty inflicted on her by Mohammad whenever she fails to please him and on the oppressive sense of being under suspicion for being an American.
In the days leading up to the 9/11 attacks, the tension in the country becomes unbearable and the couple decide to leave for the USA. They are stopped at the airport by an armed militia group who take Mohammad away and drive Lori and other captives to a camp in the mountains where she is held, tethered to a young girl called Faresh, in unspeakable conditions.
Foroozandeh's final descent into hell is marked by atrocities such as daily rape by the guards, savage beatings, starvation and a sexual outrage by the captain of the guards, all told in unbearable detail.
However, hope shines through this book and with the help of Faresh and her brother, Foroozandeh is able to escape and make a long and difficult journey back to Shiraz and eventually to freedom.
Foroozandeh makes a brave effort to confront the truth of her life when she returns to Michigan, without Mohammad whom she never sees again, and seeks treatment and therapy for PTSD and a bipolar condition. The third part of her story is one of love and redemption as she divorces Mohammad, marries again and finally meets a man who treats her with kindness and understanding. In the years following her trauma she has supported good causes, such as Amnesty International, PTSD sufferers, and the Humane Society that cares for the animals she has such affection for.

[Sabrina Rutter · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was some mistakes in the writing and a little bit of repeating that could have been fixed easily if Lori had spent a little time going through her book and correcting those, but there wasn't enough for me to give this book anything less than five stars.
Lori's story may be unbelievable to some but being that right at this very moment three hikers are being held in Evin Prison in Tehran and have not done anything that warrants their arrests I definantly believe Lori's story. (for more on the Americans being held in Iran and to sign the petition go to freethehikers.org)
Lori has been through so many things in her life that if she had gone in depth on each of those different things this could easily have been a five to six hundred page memoir, but the story she wanted to really get out was her story of being held captive in Iran.
Lori's life started off rough and seemed to continue from there. I can't even imagine surviving half of the things she has been through. At six months old she was taken away from her natural parents due to neglect and abuse. Her foster parents adopted her and though they were not abusive to her they didn't exactly protect her either.
Later in her life, after two failed marriages she met and married an Iranian and when she ran into some legal problems she hastily agreed to move to his country. Once in his homeland her husband immediatley changed, becoming more aggressive in the way he spoke to her and then later physically abusing her. Lori had all she could take from the man she had loved and trusted after he committed the one final act that extinguished the little bit of love she had left for him. All she wanted to do was go back home to the USA, but in Iran a woman has to have her husbands permission before she can leave the country so she was trapped.
On September 12th 2001 the day after the terrorist attacks in the United States Lori's husband finally said the words she had been longing to hear. They were going back to the USA. This is when Lori's real nightmare began.
This is one of those books that when you get to the last page you wonder how your going to shake off all the emotions you felt while reading it so you can move on to the next book that you have planned to read.

[Sandra Stiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the age of 15 Lori was married. Her marriage was an escape from molestation by her brother. More abuse, both sexual, domestic, and drug abuse were to follow in her life.
Remarried to an Iranian Lori left her son behind and traveled to Iran with her husband. The day after 9/11 both she and her husband are trying to leave Iran and are arrested. Separated, she finds herself in a POW camp. It is here she suffers more abuse in the form of torture, rape and starvation. After rescue she has another hurdle to get over. In Iran, a woman can’t travel without her husband’s permission. Since she didn’t know where he was she had to fight their bureaucracy just to return to her country of birth. Once back in the United States she began her long journey, as yet unfinished down the road of healing. What amazed me about this book was the love she still has for the Iranian people. There is no hatred or prejudice toward them, even after what she went through. This was an excellent book and a definite emotional read.

[Lori Foroozandeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my true story ALL LAID OUT THERE. There are no non-disclosures that would allow some people to comeback and attack me for lying. There is good, bad, heartwarming, funny but most of all INSPIRATIONAL! If I made it through the MANY tragedies in my life then I know YOU CAN TOO. I already had two tragedies before I was 11 years old. Physical abuse, AND childhood sexual abuse. Then came domestic violence, marrying a terrorist and not knowing it. Moving to Iran and not being able to return....and finally being put into a torture camp in Iran for six weeks. This book also includes my lifelong struggle with substance abuse and bipolar which wasn't diagnosed until I was 40 years old.
I hope you get out of this book what I intended the reader to take away with them. Thank you, Lori Foroozandeh
website www.loris-song.com

[Brian Bigelow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting story that I couldn't easily put down. It's quite the engaging story that really gripped me and held my attention to the end. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction, and in this case, I believe it's true.

I really liked the vignettes of how life was like in Iran. Having spent some time in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, I think the way she describes some of the things is pretty accurate and is much the same in most Muslim countries. Unless you've actually been to such places some of the things, I'm positive, would be very hard to believe.

[Clayton Bye · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.thedeepening.com/2013/04/1...

[Douglas Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book - kept me there all the way to the end. Would certainly recommend this book to anyone.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing. The author is an incredible human with an incredible, heart breaking and truly inspiring story. I cannot imagine enduring what she has; her strength and courage to get out of a Pakistani war camp is definitely worth the read!

[KJ Greenwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, no. We've got one Betty Mahmoody already.

[Cat McKinney-Montpetit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t finish the book. Her descriptions contradict each other and I just couldn’t finish the book

[R.W. Lang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lori's Song will leave you either questioning its authenticity as nonfiction, or wanting to wrap your arms around Lori to comfort her. This book was a hard read because of the atrocities she describes, and the idea that they could even exist anywhere in today's world. Abused from the day she was born, Lori finds herself imprisoned in an Iranian paramilitary POW camp. The perils she endures, and how she manages to survive will not only stun you, but make you cry out for revenge. The book would be improved by a professional editor before a second edition is released.

[Lori Foroozandeh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my true story and I encourage everyone to read it for information on the horrific acts that happen in foreign countries. Profits from my book go to AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, HSUS and etal.