We are all afraid of death, whispers Shahriyar Shams, a 23-year-old Iranian man just released from Evin prison in Tehran, on the phone. But I want to keep fighting this fear inside me, not let it paralyze me, because I have to keep doing what’s right. »
Like hundreds of other young people who have taken to the streets in recent weeks, the Iranian activist has made the overthrow of the ayatollahs’ regime the fight of his life – even though he knows very well that this fight could lead him to his last breath. “My life would have no value if I didn’t do what I’m doing right now. [m’opposer à la République islamique] “, he says to the To have toin a soft, calm voice.
Although he says he is convinced that the Iranian regime is monitoring his activities, Shahriyar Shams accepts that his name be published in the newspaper – something that few opponents of the regime, who are still in Iran, consent to. The young man, with an incisive pen, is also active on Twitter.
“We know all the risks. But that’s how we can achieve the goal we’re looking for [le renversement du régime des ayatollahs] he explains, with disconcerting courage.
In 2017, when he was 18 years old, Shahriyar Shams was arrested for the first time for taking part in a demonstration against the Khameini regime. Charged with assembly and collusion to act against national security, propaganda against the state and stirring up public conscience, the young Iranian was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, in addition to being banned from participating in any social activity for two years.
Like so many others, the university student was sent to Evin prison, where many prisoners were tortured and even died over the years, including Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died in 2003 After a year behind bars, Shahriyar Shams was released in September 2021. “I suffered psychological pressure, but no physical torture,” he testifies.
paintballs
When Iranians took to the streets again in mid-September, in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death, Shahriyar Shams was once again among them.
He reports that Iranian suppressive forces fired, among other things, paintballs (paint ball) on the protesters. “That way, they can later find the people who participated in the demonstrations, since it leaves traces of paint and bruises on the bodies,” explains the activist.
On September 26, Shahriyar Shams was arrested at his home in Tehran, with bruises still visible on his body. For a second time, he took over the management of Evin prison. For three weeks, the young man says he underwent 17 interrogations stretching for four to six hours each.
The police questioned him in particular on the interviews he gave to media deemed hostile, on the activities he carries out on his campus and on the use and sharing of VPNs. “Since I am known to the public, I was not tortured,” he analyzes. But there are prisoners, who are not publicly active, who suffered physical injuries. »
No compromise
On October 17, the young man was released without knowing the date of his trial. When he spoke with The duty a few days later, Shahriyar Shams said he had no intention of interrupting his activities or stopping participating in demonstrations.
“I’m not going to sit around watching others get killed,” he maintains. I have to be their voice [à ceux qui sont morts] and take action without standing back to protect my own safety and health. »
In Iran, there is no respect for human rights and freedoms, he laments. “We have been living under this oppression for 43 years. I received an ideological education at school and despite that, I could see the poverty, the destruction of the environment and the absence of freedoms which are all entirely the fault of the regime. »
A regime impossible to reform, he underlines. “This is what the Islamic Republic has proven to us, with the extreme repression it continuously deploys for whatever reason,” says Shahriyar Shams. The young activist also recalls that in 2019, 1,500 Iranians were killed by the police repression deployed to deal with the major demonstrations which had erupted in response to the rise in the price of gasoline. “Since there is no possibility of reform, the only possible way is to get rid of the regime,” proclaims the young man.
Destabilization fears
A vision vigorously contested by Fereshteh Sadeghi, who also lives in Tehran. “At this time, the only political system capable of preserving and protecting Iran from its enemies [Arabie saoudite, Israël, etc.] is the Islamic Republic, believes the Iranian. Especially since there is no legitimate opposition in the country. »
The one who has already been a producer for the Al-Jazeera network says she fears radical changes. “Often they lead nowhere,” she says. I support constant reforms that would take place at an acceptable pace for Iranian society. »
A fall of the regime could, moreover, lead to the dismantling of Iran and to a civil war, she fears, taking up arguments put forward by the Khamenei regime. “It will not lead to the establishment of a new democratic system,” adds Fereshteh Sadeghi.
The Tehran resident also rejects this idea that a revolution is underway in Iran. “What you see on Twitter, Instagram or other social media is not what you see on the ground in Iran,” she said, adding that the large protests that took place after the death by Mahsa Amini brought together a few thousand people in a country with more than 86 million inhabitants.
“The Islamic Republic has been a well-established regime for 43 years. He will not fall easily, he will survive, she says. In 2019, there were much larger and more violent demonstrations and that did not shake the Islamic Republic. »
Freedoms and hijab
Iran is not the “best country in the world”, agrees Fereshteh Sadeghi, and “discrimination” against women must be reduced. “But that doesn’t mean that Iranian women live under oppression as the Western media portrays it,” she said, adding that there are “freedoms that other women want that I don’t want. don’t wish”.
Ending the compulsory wearing of the hijab is not the priority of all Iranian women, she believes. “These are requests that come mainly from women belonging to the wealthy middle class. They are the ones we hear on social networks. We don’t hear enough from ordinary women struggling to find a job or dealing with violence at home,” she said.
Fereshteh Sadeghi, who describes herself as a devout Muslim, says she doesn’t take a dim view of the hijab. “It’s not a question of whether I like to wear it or not, it’s what Islamic law tells me to do. She argues that since the outbreak of the protest movement, women walk the streets without hijab, particularly in the wealthy neighborhoods in the north of the capital, without being bothered.
More freedom would nevertheless be desirable, recognizes Fereshteh Sadeghi. “There is an expression in Iran that says there is freedom of speech in the country, but no freedom after speech. A situation that must change, she agrees. “We need more freedom of speech, more transparency, better governance and less corruption,” claims the Iranian.
She also wants an improvement in the condition of women. “We must increase the emancipation [empowerment] women, improve their safety, reduce discrimination, particularly in the workplace, and provide them with social security. “Reforms that she wishes to see born by changes, “small, but constant”, and not by an overthrow of the regime as ardently claimed by Shahriyar Shams.