In Bilbao, the sociologist denounces the situation of her compatriots, involved in an uprising against the theocratic regime
The slogan ‘Woman, life, freedom’, chanted during the demonstrations against the Persian regime, has earned the title of the conference held this week by the Iranian Mahnaz Shirali at the University of Deusto. This sociologist’s dissertation revolved around the crisis in her country’s youth and, since her exile in Paris, she has shown herself to be a tireless activist for human rights in the Islamic Republic.
– What is in the germ of the uprisings? Is it a fight against the veil or is it at the root of the protest about the economic situation?
– The veil has exploded this society. It is not a female revolution, but the liberation of the country is through women. When Khomeini came to power, the first measure he introduced was for women to cover themselves, a rule designed to subjugate all of society. First for them and then for men. The normal thing is to go the other way, to start the liberation with women and reach everyone later.
– Most young people have lost hope. More than 1.5 million have applied for a visa to immigrate to Canada or Australia. Is there a possibility of reform?
– No, since 2019 everything has become radicalized. So the regime murdered 3,000 people who did not want his downfall, but only complained about the high cost of living. It was then that we realized that the Islamic Republic was incapable of negotiating with society. Today, the demonstrators want the ayatollahs to leave and democracy to be established.
– Is that claim feasible?
– It is especially difficult in a regime that has two armies, several security forces and all the mercenaries in the region. They invest national wealth in these militias and send drones to Russia in exchange for weapons. I appeal to the international community because it is their responsibility to help the peoples. In 2005, the United Nations voted in favor of a declaration defending international intervention when a ruling class kills its compatriots. There are 18,000 inmates in prison facing the death penalty. The world cannot accept it.
– Don’t you think that a direct intervention in Iran would be a global catastrophe in this new policy of blocs?
– Westerners have become very firm towards Russia. I don’t know why they can’t do the same with Iran, where crimes against humanity are being committed.
– We are talking about the Islamic Republic, but a study by Dutch researchers last summer showed that only a third of Iranians consider themselves Muslim and that 50% have lost their faith. Is the country secularized?
– That is a good question. There are no precise studies. It’s a question that eludes sociologists’ statistics, but we do have the revealing percentage of those who regularly visit places of worship. In France, 5 or 6% of the population is present. And to the mosques in Iran? Not more than 3%. The Islamic Republic has destroyed the faith of the Iranians by identifying its leaders with the saints of the Golden Age.
– Could the situation become unsustainable?
– We are already in that situation. The diaspora, consisting of several million emigrants, keeps in touch with the domestic population through social networks and young people see their cousins live happily in democratic countries. That comparison is deadly.
– Is it possible that the country will end up in a civil war?
– Everything is possible because the population wants to get rid of this elite and is willing to pay a price for it. The Ukrainians face the second army in the world. Maybe courage is contagious.
– YouTube shows boys stripping clergymen of their turbans. This form of humiliation seems unthinkable in the West. Has it come to the confluence of two completely opposite worlds in the same area?
– There are two worlds, yes, but they do not agree. On the one hand, there is a small minority who do not want to give up the means of looting and on the other hand, the 95% who are in a terrible situation.
– Tyrannical governments use all kinds of tools to keep themselves in power, but applying the death sentence to multiple inmates for the crime of enmity with God seems surreal.
–Everything is just unreal in Iran. Can you imagine the torture of 12-year-old children or those who declare themselves as representatives of God raping adolescents?
Source: La Verdad
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