Shide spent his childhood in Iran, where his parents warned his older siblings not to join anti-government demonstrations because of the bloody crackdown that followed. I heard that, but today, with protests across Iran, the situation has changed.
Mercer, a 22-year-old female detained by Iranian moral police, said she took part in seven-week-long demonstrations in the wake of the deaths of her son Amini, now her teenage son Shide, and his girlfriend. mother is talking.
The protests sparked by Amini’s death on September 16 challenged the leadership of the clergy and marked the defiance of many young Iranians who overcame the fears that suppressed dissent after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. rice field.
“You only have one life.” “I want to live freely,” said Shideh, her 17-year-old girlfriend, who asked to withhold her last name.
Her remarks were echoed by 12 young Iranians across the country interviewed by telephone by Reuters. The students, who requested anonymity, said the protests reflected what many young Iranians see as a bleak future in a country ruled by hardliners seeking to enforce strict social controls. 4,444 Iranian officials attributed Amini’s death to a pre-existing medical problem, said the unrest was fomented by foreign enemies, including the United States, and accused separatists of using violence.
Iran’s Interior Ministry and police chief did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the story. Although authorities have used tried and tested means to suppress dissent, from tear gas and bullets to threats and arrests, many young protesters have not yielded.
“Shoot! “We are not afraid anymore,” shouted a small group of young women kneeling bareheaded in front of Tehran’s riot police in a video shared on social media last week. More than two-thirds of Iranians are under the age of 30. Even if recent protests subside, the fearlessness of Iran’s youth could pose more problems for the regime, according to rights activists, analysts, and former moderate officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. Iran’s security services remain powerful.
Shideh and her mother refused to identify themselves for security reasons and asked not to disclose their whereabouts in Iran.
But for Side’s mother, Amini’s death arrested for “improperly dressed” was a turning point.
“Everything has changed,” she said.
Fearful of protesting against Iran’s ruling party clerics for years, she said thousands were at the forefront of protests that have devolved into rebellion against what protesters call the rise of authoritarianism. joined the women.
I cried for Masa for days. Mein Shideh can be arrested by her vice squad and killed like Mahsa. “The thought hit me hard,” her mother said from her home in central Iran, asking how to dress. They are a mosaic of ethnic and religious groups who claim they have long been discriminated against by Tehran. The resilience of the clerical organisation has been supported by the willing use of all available means.
