Tragedy brought us together. War is keeping us apart

After Mohammad "Mo" Mohammadi's brother died in 2020, he wanted to honour his memory with a portrait. That's when he came across Iran-based artist Fereshteh Ahmadi on Instagram. 

He never expected that a simple message would lead to a love story shaped by distance, war and agonising immigration struggles. These are Mo's words.

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After I reached out to Fereshteh on Instagram, she told her father. He recognised my name.

It turned out we were from the same village in Afghanistan, and our families had been neighbours. It was a complete coincidence.

We were both Afghan refugees who had ended up in Iran; Fereshteh's father had fled there many years before, and it was in Iran he got married and started his family. I had moved to Iran with my uncle as a young child.

Throughout 2021, Fereshteh and I spoke on Instagram, and we quickly became friends. 

Fereshteh offered to send the artwork she'd drawn of my brother to me in Australia. I'd relocated there in 2010.

But I was already planning to visit Iran the following year and wanted to collect it from her in person.

When we met in real life, I could instantly feel she was a really nice person.

When you find the other half of yourself, you just know

Soon after that first meeting, we decided to get engaged. We had a little party with our families and got our marriage certificate from the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran in 2022.

Five weeks later, I had to return to Australia for work.

We were hoping to get a visa for Fereshteh to join me.

But because she's an Afghan refugee in Iran, it's difficult for her to get the paperwork she needs.

I had no idea when we would see each other again, so a few years ago, I asked Fereshteh to send me some of her artworks in the mail.

I didn't tell her what I wanted them for, but I submitted them to a local art gallery in Bordertown, South Australia, where I now live.

They all sold. People really loved them, and even asked for commissioned works.

Fereshteh was really excited about all the support and used the money to purchase new art supplies.

It's been almost three years now since we last saw each other in person

We miss each other a lot. We're really just at the start of our relationship, and we should be spending time together.

I was planning to visit Fereshteh earlier this year, but the week before I was due to depart, Israel and the US attacked Iran. My flight was cancelled, and I could not go.  

When the conflict started, I lost contact with Fereshteh for nearly two months.

No phone calls, no text messages, no nothing. I had no idea where Fereshteh and her family were, or what they were going to do. It was really hard.

I was always thinking about her and what was going to happen. Were they going to get bombed? Were the missiles going to drop directly where they were?

Once the internet was restored, Fereshteh and her family texted me saying they were OK. I was really, really happy to hear that they were safe, at least.

There was nothing I could do, because there were no flights, and everything was closed.

Thankfully, Fereshteh and I can speak often now, but the internet is very poor, and we cannot video call. Still, at least we can talk. She's alright, and her family's alright.

Still, we're hopeful about our future together

My dream is to meet Fereshteh back in Iran so we can do the ceremony and celebrate with our families, before returning to Australia.

Then we can finally build our lives together, and hopefully have children some day.

I hope that she continues with her art when she arrives in Australia. But I'll support her with whatever she wants to be or become.

She might want to study, or maybe even teach her own art class. In Australia, she'll have the freedom to do that.

In Iran, she can't study or go to university. She can't work, and she can't even sell her artworks. It's too difficult, especially with the conflict happening now.

I've bought a house in Bordertown, and it's like home to me, so I hope she'll like it here too.

I can't wait to be together again, going out for dinner, going for holidays — even going camping.

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