Reportage / Society 14.12.2022

“Attending a concert” – An Iranian protester recalls his arrest

“Come back Jafar! It’s safe now.” Never would he have thought, that the message might hide a trap, since it was coming from Naser, his trusted friend, who was asking him to return to the city after Jafar had ran…

Komeil Soheili

“Come back Jafar! It’s safe now.” Never would he have thought, that the message might hide a trap, since it was coming from Naser, his trusted friend, who was asking him to return to the city after Jafar had ran away and got secure in a nearby village.

At a meeting held three days before the receipt of this message, in Mashhad’s central part, Jafar, Naser, and Reza had planned their protest for the following evening. Mashhad, like other 140 Iranian cities, has experienced many protests during the last few months, ever since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16th.

Jafar was afraid of joining the crowd during daylight hours. The news of more than 450 deaths and thousands of arrests, scared him from joining the demonstrations. As a young man who just turned 21 last month, he does not consider himself a risk-taker.

At the same time, he could not remain silent: a historical moment seemed to be sweeping the country, and he desperately wanted to be a part of it. A solution was soon found: he and a few of his friends decided to go out and write slogans and graffitis late at night. 

This wasn’t the first time we were out. “Things happened the usual way, as they always did: “Down with the dictator” and “Woman, life, freedom” were written on some random walls”. By dictator, Jafar was referring to the Islamic clergyman Ali Khamenei, who has ruled Iran since 1989. The second phrase is the slogan of the current Iranian protest. “We wrote on about ten to twelve walls, then headed back home,” he told in a voice call after he was released from prison.‌

“As soon as Naser opened the door of the car, four men rushed out of nowhere and blocked his path.” I could hear fear in Jafar’s voice as he described what happened. Even after nearly two weeks, he still saw it playing out before him: “After we were done writing slogans, two motorbikes started chasing us. It was clear they were not police and they did not show us any identification, but because of their beards and their dark clothing, we figured they were Basiji. Those are typical attributes of this paramilitary volunteer militia. Naser was immediately arrested and we were asked to leave the car as well. Instead, I turned on the engine and fled in an instant,” explained Jafar, feeling a bit guilty for leaving his friend behind like that. However, it is apparent that he had no choice.

“I don’t want to boast about being brave, because I’m not! I was afraid of getting arrested. If you lived in Iran, you would understand why I wasn’t able to stay at home. This situation requires individuals to take action and I believed I could do that,” explained Naser. He asked me several times not to include his full name in the article, still scared of the consequences.

The death of Mahsa Amini affected everyone in the country. The protests that sparked from this event soon became far more than a call for women rights. “The only thing we want is to be able to live normally,” said Naser, recalling the death of the Kurdish-Iranian woman that took place three days after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s dress code.

Reza’s relatives lived in a village about 70 km away from Mashhad, so the two of them decided to move there as they were anxious about returning home after the arrest of Naser. For three days Jafar lived in Reza’s village, until his friend called him and assured him that it was safe to come home. Naser told them they released him after a day and everything returned to normal. Trusting his friend, Jafar returned to Mashhad, while Reza remained with his relatives in the village, but within a few hours of his arrival, Naser called him again to tell him that he had to meet with the prison officers, urging him to do so as soon as possible, as it would have been better.

“I was surprised that Naser did such a thing to us! It felt like he sold us out, but I tried to understand him. If I had been scared or threatened in prison, I might have done the same”. Jafar soon figured out what drove Naser to sell them out: as soon as he entered the prison, the guards were very harsh with him. “After they wrote down my name and registered me, they put eye shades over my eyes and handcuffed me. They pushed me into an empty shed and I stayed there with other boys and men,” he explained.

He couldn’t say the exact number, as his eyes were closed, however, he estimated that about 30-40 people were there at once. “As it was an official prison, wounds on our bodies would have been a sign of torture, which is prohibited in this kind of facilities. However, this did not prevent them from torturing us in other ways. In other words, they did many things to make us suffer and confess our crimes,” he said in despair. Since recalling the events is still too painful for him, he didn’t want to explain this part in detail. “They would throw cold water at us and then leave us in the open for an hour to freeze! They invented crazy tactics to compel young men like me to confess,” he said. 

Moreover, Jafar said that they were using psychological torture as well: “They kept lying to us about our release date, telling us false information about what was happening outside and about our families”. Jafar’s curly hair being shaved on his first day was also one of the difficult moments he had to face. “They didn’t shave everyone’s hair, but mine did get shaved on the first day. There’s no doubt it was because it was obvious I loved my hair and worked hard to make it look that way,” he added.

Jafar was transferred to a general prison after a week. During his first sight of the “real” prison, he described it as “very crowded” with over 200 people at once. Even though it was called a prison, it was quite different from what he had expected. It was a very large hall divided into several sections, all of them covered under one large ceiling. “There were triple bunk beds, but they had already been occupied by people who had arrived there long before us. I, along with many other newcomers, needed therefore to find a place on the floor to nap.”

Jafar’s days in prison began with a lighter: the first cigarette was lit in the early morning, and prisoners had to protect it until nightfall, as it was difficult to find another flame. In order to ensure that everyone had the opportunity to smoke throughout the day, at least one cigarette had to be smoked at all times.

“There was a narrow space where we could smoke. Prisoners called that part of the prison “The Road”,” according to Jafar. “Not only did they smoke there, but they also argued and fought there!”

The majority of the people present inside Jafar’s prison had been arrested during the protests, but there were also a few criminals among them. Other prisoners told him that there were informants among them, so they couldn’t trust each other and talk freely about politics. News, however, continued to flow.

Jafar heard that prisons around Iran have set up new protest sections and hired employees from different cities to run them. Interestingly, Jafar told that the protest section employees in Mashhad were from Tabriz, which is on the other side of Iran. This is to ensure that they can better control the prisoners, since they have no personal connections to the area and won’t therefore risk to find their relatives as prisoners of the facility they work at.

The last question I asked Jafar was what he missed most when he was imprisoned. “Music” was his answer. “I really wanted to hear music of any kind, any harmony.” He remembers one occasion in which different prisoners got together: “At first some were imitating politicians and singers, but the gathering soon turned into a public performance! Many prisoners made noise by tapping their blankets, pillows, among other things. There were some who sang and some who danced! The whole time I was just happy to hear something close to music!”

L'articolo “Attending a concert” – An Iranian protester recalls his arrest proviene da InsideOver.

The killing of General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike seemed to have united and rallied Iranians behind their Supreme leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.

As the body of the revered military leader arrived in Tehran, thousands took to the streets, beating their chest and chanting death to America. Iran was a nation united by grief and patriotism.

However, the admission by the military of shooting down the Ukrainian Boeing jetliner has opened a can of worm which could spell doom for the regime.

Hundred’s of Iranians expressed their anger with the way the government had responded to questions about the air crash, coming out on the streets to demand the resignation of their leaders. “Commander in chief resign” and “death to liars”, they shouted. Perhaps the anger was intensified by the fact that almost 130, victims of the crash were Iranians of dual nationalities.

The mainly anti-government protests could easily bring back the memory of 1979 when a series of violent strikes and protests led to the overthrow of Iran’s last monarch Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in what is today known as Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

With the journalists also joining the criticism the government has a reason to fear. A statement by  the Association of Iranian journalist  read, “The publication of false information has had a severe impact on public opinion, and more than ever shook the media’s shaky position.”

The statement was issued as two journalists working for the state broadcaster IRIB, announced their resignation for being used by the state to tell lies.

When reports about the air crash emerged last week, US, Canada and UK, issued statements saying they strongly believed the jetliner was brought down by a missile. Lending credence to their claims was the fact that it happened just hours after Iran launched ballistic missiles against US military targets.

To some experts, the way the debris of the plane were strewn over a wide area was a sign that it was brought down by a missile. Furthermore, small halls appearing on the remains of the fuselage were indications of missile fragments. Iran, however, rejected the rumours calling them a “big lie”

The head of the country’s Civil Aviation Organisation, Mr Ali Abedzadeh, told a local TV channel that it was not possible an Iranian missile had hit the jet. “How would the antiaircraft system shoot it? It wasn’t a security area.” Mr Abedzadeh further added that nine other planes were flying in the area at the time while others were flying at an altitude of 25,000 feet. According to him, “If the plane was hit by a missile it would have exploded.”

For days Iran vehemently denied that it was responsible for bringing down the plane. However, with concrete evidence cropping up on social media and from intelligence sources, Iran was forced to admit that the jet was brought down by its air defence system.

This sparked angry riots across Tehran from those who accused the government of cover-up. Riot police quickly responded with tear gas to break the protests.

There’s no doubt that a regime change is something Donald Trump and his administration would love to see. Washington strategy for a regime change has always been, to put pressure on the regime by imposing heavy sanctions which would eventually cripple the economy, making Iranian’s to revolt against the government.

However, America has always denied this with Trump telling reporters last year, “we are not looking for regime. We are not looking at that at all.” Similar sentiments were expressed by Pompeo who stated “The objectives are to change behaviours of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” while the then-White House security adviser John Bolton said, “That’s not the policy of the administration. The policy of the administration is to make sure that Iran never gets close to deliverable nuclear weapons.”

But according to Brookings Institution, despite the denial, “regime change or at the very least regime collapse” is the main aim of Trump’s administration.

When the protests first broke out last week Trump tweeted,” To the brave and suffering Iranian people: I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely. Your courage is inspiring.”

In another Tweet, he wrote, “Do not kill your protesters. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the world is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people.”

In highlighting the state of Iranian economy, Brookings Institutions  said, “The reimposition of U.S sanctions on Iran has already imposed significant costs on the country, gutting the value of its domestic currency, driving off most reputable foreign investors, and severely complicating all international transactions.”

This affects the middle class and with the growing anti-government sentiments nothing can be ruled out. A simple trigger is enough to create a serious wave of dissent that can topple the government.

The Iranian government knows very well how the situation can turn out and has responded with great brutality, firing live ammunition and wounding several protesters. It is a ticking time bomb that has been waiting for a very long time to explode.

In November 2019 Iran faced serious internal strife as many took to the streets to protest against the country’s leadership and increase in fuel prices. Within a matter of hours, the violent protests had spread to 21 cities.

The government responded by killing 1,500 protesters and detaining thousands. To prevent the coordination of the protests and the sharing of information it shut down the internet for almost one week.

Even then the US couldn’t hide its support for the protests with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Tweeting, “The United States is with you, while the White House said, “We condemn the lethal force and severe communications restrictions used against demonstrators. Tehran has fanatically pursued nuclear weapons and missile programs, and supported terrorism, turning a proud nation into another cautionary tale of what happens when a ruling class abandons its people and embarks on a crusade for personal power and riches.”

Trump expressed his support to the protesters by tweeting, “ Iran has become so unstable that the regime has shut down their entire internet System so that the Great Iranian people cannot talk about the tremendous violence taking place within the country.”Iran dismissed all the statements terming them as hypocritical since the protests were caused by the sanctions imposed on the country by America.

Although the protests were brutally crushed, the resurging dissension in the aftermath of Ukraine flight 752 disaster, could pose the biggest threat to the regime. After all, Iran has a revolutionary history that could easily influence the protesters.

L'articolo Ukraine Flight 752 Could Spell Doom for the Iranian Government proviene da InsideOver.