If you've been on Instagram over the past 24 hours, you may have noticed (or shared) a graphic which reads, “Iran sentences 15,000 prisoners to death – as a “hard lesson” for all rebels.”
Amid increasing international concern about the safety of protestors in Iran, it's been reported (via BBC News) that an Iranian court has issued a death sentence to a person arrested for participating in the protests, which sparked following the death of Mahsa Amini in September earlier this year.
CNN has reported that 14,000 people have been arrested in Iran during the protests there since September, but it's not been confirmed that any of them have been sentenced to death. However, an open letter signed by 227 of Iran’s 290 members of Parliament (via the state-run Press TV) reads, “We, the representatives of this nation, ask all state officials, including the Judiciary, to treat those, who waged war (against the Islamic establishment) and attacked people’s life and property like the Daesh (terrorists), in a way that would serve as a good lesson in the shortest possible time.”
Here, GLAMOUR speaks to two young women at the frontlines of the protests in Iran:
On a sunny evening in September 2022, Rania*, a 19-year-old student living in Tehran, watched as the news broke out about the death of a young Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini. She was arrested by Iran’s notorious morality police for wearing her hijab “inappropriately” and being taken to a so-called ‘re-education centre’ where she was allegedly beaten and slipped into a coma. She died three days later.
Mahsa Amini's name has become famous around the world; synonymous with the brutal oppression of women in Iran under its hardline, conservative government. As pictures of Amini lying in intensive care went viral around the world, thousands of people took to the streets of Iran, and women began setting fire to their hijabs in protest.
As tears streamed down her face, something snapped inside Rania. She decided to join the growing number of women fighting for change. Now, she leads a double life as a student and as a member of the Iranian Resistance Unit, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a network of activists supported by the country’s opposition party who are the driving force fighting for change in Iran.\
Like many women in the resistance, Rania’s family don’t know she is part of the movement, so she had to resort to making voice recordings on her phone from outside her house to do the interview. By speaking to GLAMOUR, Rania is risking her life and the lives of her family and other activists.
The protests follow the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died last Friday.
“If I want to tell you about what my life is like here in Iran, the only way to describe it is that we have a forced life here. We are surviving without any hope or future. The regime has turned all people's throats into glass. We are all too afraid to speak. I go to college and ask myself why should I continue for a future that is empty.”
“When I heard about Mahsa Amini, in my heart, I was thinking about the moment that she was arrested and beaten. How all the dreams that a girl can have were ended so brutally.”
“When I heard about Mahsa Amini, in my heart, I was thinking about the moment that she was arrested and beaten. How all the dreams that a girl can have were ended so brutally. It could have so easily been me or any of my friends,” said Rania, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I had been hearing about the resistance unit and how they are the regime’s red line. I knew it was dangerous, but there’s a fire inside people that is growing. I found people who could connect me to the organisation, and now I am in one of the resistance units. This is my only pride because our only ideal is freedom.”
The movement has won massive support worldwide, with protests in cities across Europe and the USA. Celebrities have amplified their voices, including Britney Spears, whose husband is Iranian, and Meghan Markle, who wore a top with the words “Woman, Life Freedom”, which has become the rallying cry of protestors.
However, the crackdown on protestors has been swift and brutal, with reports of women and even children being shot, beaten and sexually assaulted.
Since the protests started just over a month ago, around 240 people have been killed, and 140,000 have been arrested, many of whom have been young women and children, according to Iran's Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – though they believe this is the tip of the iceberg and the actual figures are much higher.
“Be the unheard voice of Iranian queer community, spread our voices, spread our stories, and acknowledge our existence and resistance in Iran.”
Government forces have targeted colleges and even schools which are considered a hotbed for unrest. There have been numerous clashes between the Revolutionary Guard (the branch of the armed forces responsible for controlling internal dissent) and students. A 16-year-old schoolgirl was beaten to death in her classroom when security forces raided a school and tried to force children to sing a pro-regime anthem (via The Guardian).
“It is not easy being part of the resistance,” said Rania. “They have arrested many of the women in the demonstration and have killed young teenagers, then said they committed suicide. These are good people with futures gone.
“I can’t even dream of a future because my dreams are locked in cages. We don’t have the same rights as men.”
“Women are the driving force of the movement because, in Iran, women are not given any rights and cannot do anything. Women have been oppressed in every fight, but we are not afraid anymore. It has made us go with all our strength to overthrow the regime of the mullahs [a term used to describe scholars of Sharia law]. We need our voices to be heard and everyone to recognise our revolution.”
While to many people outside Iran, it may seem like the protests came out of the blue, Mahsa’s death was a tinderbox for years of oppression which started long before many of the protestors were even born. The protests are about more than just the hijab, but about the government policing women’s choices about their bodies and their whole lives.
The 22-year-old died three days after being arrested by Iran's morality police.
Another student, 21-year-old Leena*, who has been among the protesters, explained. “Being a young woman living in Iran is living a half-life. Not even that, you are just existing. I can’t even dream of a future because my dreams are locked in cages. We don’t have the same rights as men. But even the rights our religion gives us, we don’t get.
“Since the death of Mahsa, my friends and I all feel like we cannot breathe, and when you cannot breathe, your first instinct is to fight to survive, and that is what we are doing. My family is very strict, and if they knew I was participating in the protests, my father would be angry. My mother understands, so when I go to the protests, she hides it from my father, but she is scared I will be arrested or killed.
“When you go to protest, you don’t know if you will come back, but it is a risk we are all willing to take.”
“It is true when you go to protest, you don’t know if you will come back, but it is a risk we are all willing to take because freedom comes with a price, and it is a price we are willing to pay. We have nothing to lose. We don’t feel scared; we feel excited and emboldened.
“We have no choice. This is our only chance to speak up, or nothing will ever change. It is hard when the whole world is behind us, but our families are not. I can’t do much because I am only 18. I wish I could do more. But just one voice can change everything, even if that one voice is weak, joined with a thousand other voices, it becomes strong.”
The dangers for protesters extend beyond the borders of Iran. With two death warrants already on her head for her activism, Laila Jazayeri, Director of the Anglo-Iranian Women in the UK. She explained why it was important for women outside Iran to amplify the voices of the women in Iran:
“What is happening in Iran is unprecedented. The reaction of Iranians, and women in particular, has been extraordinary. There is a high sense of solidarity and closeness amongst them. They all have a sense of joy that this uprising is finally turning into a revolution and sadness because so many lives have been and continue to be lost.
"The people of Iran want an end to forty years of executions, suppression, misogyny, widespread poverty and corruption."
“The murder of Mahsa in the custody of the so-called "Morality Police" provided the initial spark for the eruption of 40 years of condensed anger. But, from day one, it was clear that the people demanded the entirety of the ruthless regime to go. The people of Iran want an end to forty years of executions, suppression, misogyny, widespread poverty and corruption.
“The response by the women worldwide has also had a positive impact on the morale of the Iranian women inside the country.”
As I listen to Rania and Leena’s messages, it suddenly hits me that any day they could be killed for simply wanting the kind of life most of us take for granted.
I asked Rania if there was anything else she would like to say. “Just one thing,” she says “Please tell everyone my name means freedom.”
*Names have been changed.
Wearing a headscarf made me hyper-visible and invisible to those around me. They wanted things from me but they didn’t want to know me.
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