Woman A - Qom, Iran
We want to see the change spread from the roots to the leaves
I have been actively involved in the protest movement right from the start. Along with my university studies, I was also employed in some small capacity, but this came to an end because of the demonstrations. But I don't mind one bit, because what I have been doing in the protest movement is more important than work. I have used social media to spread the word about why the revolution is so important. I also distributed leaflets conveying the same message.
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I was also active on campus for about a month but almost got into trouble, although luckily the authorities have yet to reach me. It appears that we have driven home the message among the staff that we can surprise them every day: by scrawling graffiti on the wall; spreading pamphlets; and more. Qom has not seen protests on the streets. This is a very holy city and highly guarded. There is no great social cohesion here, and most of the residents work for the regime in some capacity. Those who have tried to take to the streets are quickly rounded up. We tried to stage a demonstration once or twice, only to realize that we would be arrested within five minutes – so we backed down.
In recent days, the regime executed two people who partook in the demonstrations; but I have not had fear – not even for one moment. When the movement first erupted, the death of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami (who was beaten to death while in custody) deeply disturbed me. It was just mind-boggling to think that the security forces chose to rape and sow fear as their weapons. But this time around, after two demonstrators have been executed, I just clenched my teeth and only got more motivated to act. I thought about what I could do that would be big; how to ratchet up the pressure and exact revenge. I don't mind the danger, what matters is that the step I take will lead to something bigger. To be honest, judging from the mood among my friends and relatives, the executions only make us more determined and bolster the protest movement. We have no fear."
We are not overly impressed by the statements coming out of the regime about supposedly disbanding the morality police or lifting the requirement to cover our hair. Everyone knows that these statements come from a place of fear and that their very utterance is designed to quell the unrest. Soon enough, when the dust settles, the restrictive policies will revert to what they were – and maybe even get worse. We want a wholesale change to the regime – from its roots to the branches and leaves. I believe that a year from now Iran will be free, but we will need more time to be able to rebuild it and make it bloom.
Woman B - Karaj, Iran
No longer holding hope for reforms
I live in Karaj, where there have so far been only a few demonstrations. But they were big and were held at the very place where Hadis Najafi and Sarina Esmailzadeh were killed. I took part in four of the five demonstrations held so far, and one of the moments that has been seared into my memory is from what unfolded on the main road (which lies just opposite a Basij base): Security forces kept marking people with green laser beams. They used this against people who just happen to be there, firing their guns at them. The ambulances that would arrive were ultimately used by the security forces to take their victims into custody.
Now the regime has started to publicly hang people, and while this could sow fear, it is not scarier than the dread of being hit by a bullet, being arrested in your home, or being tortured to death. Just think about what happened to the man who let the protesters hide in his shelter at his home: He was woken up in the middle of the night and was shot in the head. Yes, admittedly we fear those things much more than we let on, but this time around the fear is not debilitating; because no matter what unfolds, these demonstrations won't be quelled, and we will make sure they continue.
We may take a tactical pause for several days to prepare, but we are not going to give up, because we know that unlike in past instances when we tried to launch a revolution, this time there is a way forward. Everyone in Iran has joined this cause. We are like a person who has been fending off an enemy who has invaded his home and taken over.
For this reason, we should not be overly excited over former President Mohammad Khatami's statements in support of the protesters or the talk about disbanding the morality police; it will never be disbanded. The only reason the regime has floated this idea is to gauge our reaction. We lost hope that the Reformists will effect change after Hassan Rouhani was elected. Perhaps they were the reason past protest movements were quashed. Neither Khatami nor Mir-Hossein Mousavi (a reformist leader) can do something that would justify the continuation of the regime, which will try to hold on to power through murders and killing. For the time being, it is just playing for time.
How do I imagine Iran's future? I am in my 20s, and since no one in Iran can work only in their vocation, I have had to work in a different field. So a year from now I want Iran to have a new regime. Three years from now I imagine an Iran with better conditions, one that would attract investments and be a major magnet for tourism.
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