Friends: Father Dave and Sheikh Mansour Leghaei

Sheikh Mansour and I first met in 2002. Over the years, he became my most trusted friend. We campaigned together to save him from deportation by the Australian government. We were unsuccessful, but the experience left me with a lasting connection with both his family and with his Australian community – the people of the Imam Husain Centre in Earlwood (Sydney).

I have travelled to Iran and met him there three times now. On one occasion, he drove across from Esfahan to Tehran – a trip of about 4.5 hours – just to meet me for lunch, driving back again the same day. When I told him that he really shouldn’t have made such an effort, he said that we should be thankful that technology was such that he didn’t have to make the trip by camel.

This interview took place on 7 August 2016 in Tehran, Iran.

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