Twenty thousand arrests and 400 deaths: what has changed in Iran a month after the outbreak of protests

“In a month of protests, around 20,000 people were stuck and 400 dead, including 23 minors. Women continue to speak out boldly, but the international community must do more to bring its leaders to justice, Khamenei AND Raisi”.

Elham Zanjani is part of NCRI Women’s Committeethe women’s committee National Council of Resistance of Iran who from abroad help Iranian women defend their rights. By actively participating in the meetings of the United Nations for gender equality and the empowerment of women (A woman) wage a relentless battle against the Iranian regime’s misogyny.

FOR fanpage.it Zanjani took stock of the situation in the country a month after the start of the Protests erupted after Mahsa Amini’s death: it was on September 16 that the 22-year-old girl died after being detained by the moral police because she misused herhijab.

Almost a month after the protests began, what has changed in Iran?

“Four weeks have passed since September 16, when the riots started. As you know, after the arrest and beating to death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman from Tehran by the so-called moral police, people and especially women took to the streets in protest. from across Iran have joined the women-led movement protesting the regime.

Now, four weeks later, the most important social change is people they are no longer afraid to publicly express their displeasure and hatred of the regime in power.

Brave women showed their willpower in the face of the repressive and others followed suit. Universities and even secondary schools have joined the movement. Unions and lawyers are next to join and strikes in the gas fields come in support. Official media also write about discontent and social upheaval.”

What are the official protest numbers?

“According to the data we have last Friday, more than 400 people were killed. The People’s Mojahedin Organization (PMOI/MEK), the main opposition movement to the NCRI, has revealed the identity of 206 of the people killed by the forces. Names and available photographs were publicized on television programs and Resistance websites.

Amnesty International also announced that 23 minors are among the victims. More than 20,000 are feared to have been arrested.”

We see brave women every day cutting their hair and taking to the streets protesting the regime. Can you explain to us what their condition is in Iran?

“The movement began with women cutting off a lock of hair, with the act quickly becoming a symbol of protest against the regime of mulewhich since the day it came to power in 1979 has imposed the forced veil on women and brutal repression on those who do not.

The main demand since the early days of the protests is “regime change”. People on the streets chant “Down with (the regime’s supreme leader) Khamenei”, “Down with (the regime’s president) Raisi”. They made clear their choice for regime change. I cannot see the Iranian people settling for anything less than a regime change towards freedom and democracy. Contrary to what is sometimes portrayed, this is not a movement to give women the choice of dress, but to give the Iranian people the opportunity to choose life and fundamental freedoms.”

We saw that foreigners were also arrested. Among them is the Italian Alessia Piperno. Do you know anything about his condition?

Alessia Piperno traveling

“We don’t know specifically about their condition, but during their four decades of rule the mullahs’ regime has shown its ability to take hostages. They want us to believe that the national uprising in more than 180 cities is the result of intervention and a foreign planning, to shoot innocent protesters. They arrest innocent tourists and foreigners to further blame their chaotic situation.

The best way to counter this blackmail is to not give in and maintain a firm position of principle and not accept this disgusting practice”.

What can the international community do to help Iranian protesters and end femicide in Iran?

“The international community can adopt several effective measures, beyond the strong words with which he condemned the brutal repression of the Iranian insurrection by the security forces. Maryam Rajavi, The president-elect of the NCRI has expressed on several occasions some of these steps, such as the recognition of the right of the Iranian people to self-defense and the struggle to overthrow the religious dictatorship and establish democracy and human rights; urgent interventions to avoid executions AND murders of the protesters and guarantee the release of political prisoners; report to the United Nations Security Council on dossier of the massacres of the Iranian regime, including the September 2022 uprising and 4 decades of genocide and crimes against humanity, as well as the 1988 and 2019 massacres, and bring their leaders, Khamenei and Raisi to justice”.