In Iran, six months after the death of Mahsa Amini, street protests to demand more freedoms are less numerous. It must be said that the repression was severe. However, the determination of some young people is still intact.
From our special correspondent in Tehran,
They agreed to meet in a café, very close to the University of Tehran. Three 20-year-old friends, three students in jeans-basketball, sporting long brown hair. Unimaginable six months ago: these young women do not wear a veil, although Iranian law obliges them to do so. There Death of Mahsa Amini changed their life. After the death of the young Kurd for a poorly worn headscarf, Shirin* decided to join the protest movement to demand more freedoms, in particular that of dressing as she sees fit: “ At the beginning, we were really very scared, because if you didn’t wear the headscarf, that meant your death sentence, she says, it takes audacity to remove the veil. But we must continue to do so, for those who have sacrificed themselves. »
For several months, young people, girls and boys, beat the pavement against the wearing of the veil in Iran and demanded more freedoms. The slogans are clearly hostile to the Islamic regime. Hundreds of dead, thousands of people arrested, young people executed. Repression is fierce. Yasmine* has experienced this. She had a narrow escape during a demonstration. ” I managed to escape, but we were shot at, she testifies. We found refuge in a house. The young woman tells how the owner helped the young demonstrators by preventing the police from entering his house. They escaped arrest, but many of Yasmine’s friends weren’t so lucky, she says, “ many have been arrested, shot, some still in trouble, can’t go back to college “.
Religious education classes as sanction
With the crackdown, the protests waned. Taking off her veil is becoming an act of resistance, more and more visible in the streets of Tehran and especially in the cafes. Shirin symbolically burned her veil on the grounds of her university, during a gathering of boys and girls. As a result, she receives ten compulsory Islamic education courses to remind her of the rules. ” A mullah came to give us lessons on Islam and theology, he spoke to us about divine laws. And then they gave us back our student cards, she explains. But if it was the second or third time that you were sanctioned, you were suspended from your studies. The boys were sent to military service. »
The young woman is ironic about these religious education courses that she had to undergo: “ Basically, you are told to love Supreme Leader Khamanei and that Khomeini was a good person. Khomeini was honest, whereas during the time of the Shah who ruled the country before, women could not study! Everything we were told tended to irritate us and push us to go back to demonstrate in the street to get rid of these morons! », she lets go.
A call to older generations
The rejection of the mullahs’ regime is very present among some students. Ava*, who has remained aloof from her friends so far, would like the youth protest movement to extend more to other layers of the population and go far beyond the issue of the veil. “ The hijab is the pillar of the Islamic Republic. For more than forty years, they tried by all means to impose it on us. And by not respecting the wearing of the veil, we call into question the very existence of the Islamic Republic. But it’s true that we expect more, she pleads. We are waiting for the silent majority to come forward. We hope in particular that inflation, the high cost of living will push everyone to express their anger and that it is not only our generation that is sacrificing itself. » And to add : “ At some point, those who took part in the 1979 revolution must also rise up. And that we try to overthrow the power by all means. »
The regime’s takeover of the situation has dissuaded young Iranians from returning en masse to the streets. But these three young women are convinced that the protests will resume sooner or later. “ A seed has been planted, concludes Ava, she has time to grow. »
► To read also: Iranian women tell of their determination to continue the fight despite the repression
*Names have been changed
The Regime’s Perspective with Iran’s Vice President for Women and Family Affairs
RFI: Iran has been experiencing a protest movement for six months following the death of Mahsa Amini. How do you respond to this movement?
Ensiyeh Khazali: What happened in the past few months was not a feminist movement, some tried to start a movement on behalf of women, but it was a form of abuse against them. Mahsa Amini died in an accident, she never received a blow to the head […] But some have tried to portray her as a murder victim for which the Iranian state is responsible. The media, especially foreign ones, gave a lot of scope to this affair and they launched, as well as certain foreign leaders, an unprecedented offensive against Iran.
RFI: Thousands of young people were arrested during the demonstrations. Women who have come out of prison have claimed to have suffered ill-treatment, even rape in detention, what do you say to that?
EK: It’s not true. I went to prison several times and spoke with young women, I listened to them, it was not at all the case. Some were from the upper classes of society, they had pretentious demands, but the conditions of detention were good and appropriate. Finally, they have provided no evidence for their allegations.
RFI: Several young men were executed. This shocked many abroad…
EK: We apply the law of retaliation, that is to say that the family of the victim can claim the death of the author of an assassination, by hanging. Here, this right does not belong to the State, but to the families […] and even if we try to dissuade families and convince them to forgive, they can refuse.
RFI: To come back to the demands of women, some claim the right not to wear the veil, why not grant it to them?
EK: Here, as in every country, we have dress codes in the law. They must be respected. Some do not recognize this law, but they do not represent a majority. We believe that this law aims to protect women against violence. The issue of hijab is present in our Islamic culture as well as in Iranian culture, we can clearly see it in our traditions, unlike in Europe where it is the opposite. And with regard to other claims, we are working in the legal field to respond to women’s demands, particularly on the question of marriage.
RFI: The dance of a group of young women in Tehran to a famous hit made the rounds on social networks. These girls were arrested and had to apologize, veiled, for dancing. There is concern about their fate, what will become of them?
EK: It was not necessarily the question of the dance, but some are manipulated from abroad […] It’s a project to oppose the state and overthrow it, it’s not about sailing or dancing, there are other goals behind it. These women were reprimanded, they apologized for breaking the law. And now they’re free, the case is closed.
Interview by Mr. Paradon
► To read also: Uncertainty about the fate of the five young Iranian women arrested for a choreography