IRAN – « Woman, life, freedom. » Three words and a cry that have not lost their power, two years after they were born in the Iranian streets in reaction to the death of Mahsa Amini, on September 16, 2022 in Tehran. The death of this student, killed by the morality police because of a poorly positioned headscarf, rekindled the embers of a protest that was already simmering. Faced with her, the regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei deployed a fierce and appalling repression.
Executions, murders, arbitrary imprisonment, torture, sexual violence…: the price paid by opponents for their acts of civil disobedience is terribly high. In 2023, the UN and Amnesty International accused the regime of crimes against humanity. Just last month, in a single day, 29 people were hanged, including 26 in a collective execution, denounced the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Norway.
But despite the losses, violence and death, the protest continues in Iran, and not only. In Paris, the association Femme Azadi is organizing a rally this Sunday, September 15, at Place Victor Hugo. In the crowd will be Mahasti Majidi, 58 years old. The woman who left Iran for France several decades ago thanks to a tourist visa was in Tehran at the time of Mahsa Amini’s death.
The electroshock
« When I was in Iran in September 2022, I learned that a young woman had just been arrested by the morality police in Tehran,” she tells the HuffPost. “I walked past the hospital where she was dying, and I was so emotional. Then I heard she died and I thought, ‘She was 22, my daughter’s age. If my daughter had been born in Iran, maybe she would be where Mahsa is.’” ” she recalls with emotion.
Mahasti Majidi leaves Iran on the day of the student’s funeral, as protests explode over this violent injustice and years of repression. From there my life changed again, I had to do something. » She then decides to commit herself completely to this « revolution “, in support of the movement ” Woman, life, freedom ” which took off in Iran. A commitment which, she knows, has completely closed the doors of her country to her, under penalty of being arrested and imprisoned upon her arrival.
Mahasti Majidi, who experienced the rise of oppression and the restriction of freedoms before his emigration – “ For a strand of hair that stuck out, you were taken to the police station for questioning. ” –, is worried today about the younger generation. ” The situation there is getting worse every day and some young people tell me that they have no hope, that they can’t build anything and that they don’t want to get married or have children in this country. They just want to leave Iran. Every time I talk to them, I feel like crying. “, the activist tells us.
But she wants to cling to the hope of change, to the power of the mobilization that continues. Not in the streets, after the thousands of deaths and arrests of the past two years, but through other forms of protest: removing her veil, singing, dancing, writing on the walls at night… It’s courageous when you know what risks they take. “, she points out. For example, in 2024, several women were arrested for having ” broke social norms by dancing » in public.
« We know it’s going to get hot »
On Sunday, Mahasti Majidi will be alongside Mona Jafarian. The latter, president of the association Femme Azadi, can no longer set foot in Iran again and is under police protection in France. For her, ” there is always hope ” for the Iranian people. “ There are millions of them fighting, the regime is at bay.”
“To stifle the protest, they would have to kill Iranians by the thousands and that would lead directly to a revolution. ” she assures the HuffPostcertain that the reign of Ali Khamenei and the morality police is doomed. Mona Jafarian is also counting on pressure from the international community. Because, according to her, the fall of the regime will come ” of maximum pressure from the West ” and the isolation of the country. This is the heart of the commitment of the two women: ” At some point, you know it’s going to catch fire and they’re going to fall. »
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