How do Iranians, exiled Iranians or people with Iranian roots living in the West observe the protests in Iran? With a questionnaire, we collect voices. This time: Gilda Sahebi, a trained doctor and journalist.
Protesters on Keshavarz Boulevard in Tehran. Foto: Darafsh, Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
The protests in Iran have been going on for weeks. With what feelings or thoughts are you currently observing them?
The protests have been going on for nine weeks now, and in the meantime there is also a lot of concern and fear, because the regime is acting extremely harshly against the protesters and is also spreading fear and terror overall. We have seen pictures where people were shot at, attacked, uninvolved people in the subway. This means that the repression is now not "only" directed against the protesters, but that overall fear and terror is to be spread throughout the country. And the first death sentences have been issued. One simply worries about the number of people who will still perish, be imprisoned, be executed. And yet there is still hope, because people do not let themselves be defeated by all the terror that is being spread.
Do you have direct contact with the population in Iran? If so, what do you hear or read there?
I always ask my contacts in Iran how they are doing, what the situation is. Some of them go to protest themselves. And there you can always hear: The more this regime strikes back and becomes more brutal and kills children and condemns people to death, the more determined we become. The anger grows, not the fear. With all the atrocities that this regime carries out, people's determination increases. That's what I hear a lot, and also the solidarity with each other, the solidarity with the Kurds, with minorities in general. And that actually pervades all the feedback I get.
How do you assess the current situation? What phase are the protests in?
It is definitely a very crucial time right now, because the repression is becoming even more cruel, even more brutal than it already was, and the regime is trying everything to put down the protests. In addition, the World Cup is about to begin. There will also be the question: How is the world dealing with the situation? Is the world showing solidarity? That will be very, very decisive - whether the regime is sent a signal from this World Cup or not. And that's why it's now definitely also a phase of organization. The protesters are very well organized, they will not give up, they will continue. And now you have to wait and see what happens next.
Unlike many other major protests and revolutions, this one goes directly back to the uprising of women. What makes the feminist revolution so special?
This is a feminist revolution because all people are fighting together for equal rights for all genders. Women are right at the forefront. That's what I keep hearing from Iran, that in all the protests, people also look to women, that they take leadership roles, that they show strength, and that everyone fights together: not just women for themselves, but all genders, men, women, the LGBTQ community - they all fight together for the liberation of women and the liberation of all genders. And that's why this feminist revolution is so revolutionary, because it is supported by all people.
In this country - in Germany as well as other Western countries - the issue is overshadowed in the media by other issues such as the Ukraine war. What needs to happen to change this?
Unfortunately, this is very often the case with so-called "foreign issues." The image suggested in the media is one that says: this is far away and none of our business. This image has to change: to believe that the protests in Iran, that the revolution in Iran is of less concern to us or not so significant because it is not so close and also affects the region of the so-called Middle East. But I'm beginning to see a change in the way we look at things: that we see that we live in an interdependent world, that the Ukraine war and the Iran revolution are very much connected, connected beyond the Iranian drones that are being delivered to Russia. And these interdependencies, these connections simply have to be shown again and again and traced what various events, happenings, conflicts in other parts of the world have to do with us. But the view in Germany is unfortunately sometimes shaped by a very West-centric perspective. And that has to be broken up.
What is your prognosis: In which direction will Iran or the uprising develop in the coming months?
It's hard to say how the revolution and the protests will develop. But I am sure of one thing: that they will not stop, that people will not go back to this state of forced subservience. The absolute majority of people have broken with the regime. And it will also depend on the reaction of the international community as to what happens next. It will depend on how brutal this regime continues to be. That's why it's hard to make predictions. But people will not stop.
Gilda Sahebi is a trained physician and studied political science. She works as a freelance journalist focusing on anti-Semitism and racism, women's rights, the Middle East and science. She completed her journalistic training at Bayerischer Rundfunk. After her traineeship, she was an author and editor for the ZDF program "Neo Magazin Royale." She then worked as a project manager for the "No Hate Speech Movement" at Neue deutsche Medienmacher*innen. She is a writer for the taz and works for ARD, among others.