Inside Iran: What Happened to Iran’s Women-led Uprising?

So we had a pretty abrupt end to our time filming here in Iran. Yesterday we were leaving the hotel when eight guys attacked us and told us they were with the Iranian Security Forces. They took our phones and pointed a gun at us. in our heads they took all of our personal belongings, they took all of our camera equipment, they took all of our pictures, then they took us back to a hotel room, well, we've been for the last 18 hours or so, we They allowed or in fact, They told us to leave the country now with only our phones, they took our computers, they took everything else.

It's been the most stressful 24 hours and I honestly feel so relieved to get out of here, the Islamic Republic of. Iran is no stranger to popular

uprising

s, but the demonstrations sweeping the country today are different. Last September, 22-year-old Masa Amini was arrested by Iran's morality police, accused of violating the country's strict dress code, and taken to a detention center where she was allegedly beaten. She died shortly after, prompting outrage and months of mass protests broke out across Iran. Women burned their hijabs, cut their hair and stormed the streets. In Rage, the regime responded with brute force, arresting tens of thousands, killing hundreds, and executing seven.

Several dozen security officials were also killed in the clashes a week before our arrest we arrived in Iran we are the first American television crew to be here since the chaos broke out we are here in Iran I can't believe it but they have given us very little visas to come and operate here from the Iranian regime, so we are driving into a neighborhood in tan that has been at the center of some of these protests in recent months. This neighborhood has been a rallying point for young people rebelling against the system. including five girls who posted this viral video of themselves dancing naked, then they were arrested, so you can see the authorities have recently closed a bunch of these restaurants and cafes in a very clear concerted effort to close cafes, restaurants, businesses that They are allowing

women

who don't wear hijab in, so they are actually targeting businesses, but you can see even though many

women

around here still walk around completely uncovered in a very clear sign of defiance to the demands of the authorities.

Would you mind chatting with us? Do you know

what

happened

here? Can you tell me why you're worried about showing your face? He was right as soon as he started talking, the police came to St. Us like Vice, why is Farm weird? America, we have been here for 2 minutes and the police have already surrounded us, the police have asked us to leave this area because there is a protest that is about to start in a few minutes and they definitely do not want us to see that they took us. on the side of the road and they detained us for several hours until night fell, we deleted it.

More police arrived, we were not allowed to be here, so finally the police let us go. After a couple of hours, they insisted on deleting some of our images and Now we are driving around the city because we have heard that there are protests and there is a very strong police presence around the city. At this moment we can see a group of riot police on the corner and we think they are following us. We can't really get out of the car to see

what

's going on. Later that night, protest chants were heard in Terán.

It quickly became apparent that our permissions to be here came with restrictions. We could only visit places previously approved by the Iranian media. The Wing Tan International Book Fair was deemed not controversial enough for us to attend, but as soon as we arrived, a passing stranger told us that all the books they and we now saw must be government-approved. We decided not to show his face. I know the current situation is so terrible right now. The type of books that are sold here and displayed here have changed, yes, yes, of course, in what way, the way some publishers cannot display their books here, why is that?

Due to political measures, they have been limited. One of the conditions for people to come here is that women are dressed correctly, so here, right at the entrance to the event, is the center to advise women on how to wear the hijab and what could go wrong if They don't use it. What is your role here? We are talking about your questions about why do we have this if we are Muslim, why should we have this if you are someone who is not Muslim, why should you have this, uhhuh, I am here to talk to teenagers with young people to tell them think about my words think about what I tell you then they are trying to influence them yes yes yes and now the media those media that do not love our country do not want our opinion and you say, tell and tell about your wife, no, you should not have this, this is not freedom, so you think it's the Western media that is influencing women, of course, they are, of course, you know, it has nothing to do with the fact that some women may choose not to wear a scar in your head very little you know very little some women you know um Iranian people the problem of the Iranian people is not Islam but the Medes do not want Islam you know that your problem is this is the scar no Amma Islamic revolution because we love Islam and the Islam is what God tells us, not what I want, you want what you want, whatever she wants, whatever you know, so there should not be that personal freedom of choice, only choice within the limits of Islam, whatever.

God, let us clarify what it is that you came here today and do you feel convinced by the conversation that you have been having today? Yes, will you change your behavior or the way you dress? I don't want to change his behavior. I don't want her, I want her to teach, are you going to stop us, yes, why was it getting interesting, we are Iranians, all Iranians are interesting, you know, yes, it is a very interesting conversation, but more and more Iranians are resisting throughout our When a handful of brave young people decided to talk to us, we concealed their identities, they told us about the harsh repressive measures by the security forces that have since expanded to schools and universities.

It was a protest, they don't let us go to class without a scar they fired many of our friends they fired them from the mats they have no place to sleep everything is a crime no matter what you can drink you can shake useful girls you can't do anything The students told us They said they were forced to sign a pledge saying they would abide by the dress code, not sit next to people of the opposite sex, and not protest. Signing a pledge is not losing anything, it's just that we can't beat them right now. I think our generation will overcome the system eventually, but not right now.

Violence, they told us, had been used to silence them. A teenage girl told me how security forces had opened fire on her. We were in the park. and they just shoot us for no reason, we're just sitting there, we didn't do anything, if you got hit badly, yeah, it's very difficult, I think, I think, uh, I'm in danger, she showed me several rubber bullet wounds scattered over her body . The next day we left the capital and traveled to K to try to test what the religious sex of the country felt like. This is a very different sight from what we have been seeing online recently, all these people have come to the city of Amigo which is one of the holiest cities in IR coming to show their respect for their religion, this is where much of the clerical establishment is based and these clerics here have a lot of influence and a lot of power within the Iranian regime, so if any changes happen it is very likely that much of the country's public anger during the year will begin right here. last year is directed towards the all-powerful clerical establishment that was in power for more than four decades since the Islamic revolution.

This anger reached a boiling point last year when religious clerics were attacked and had their turbines thrown off their heads in resentment toward the theocratic system that governs the Iranian people. These recent protests demanding change have led to brutal repression. There have been tens of thousands of people arrested. There have been hundreds of people. who have been murdered, hundreds more have been beaten and tortured, don't you think that if clerics like you condemned that type of behavior by this regime, it would have a great impact on society? These are figures that come from the United Nations.

These are figures that come from the United Nations. from the external monitoring group, these are figures that come from human rights organizations, so you do not believe that there has been violence towards the protesters, it seems that you support the regime 100%, the government, it seems that you really do not want anything to happen . change, but not all clerics are aligned, we meet Muhammad tagi fazel mbodi, a self-proclaimed reformist cleric who challenges the current government by questioning its legitimacy. You know, I didn't expect a religious cleric in Iran to let me travel with you and let them see you without any clothes on, so when you drive around the city you usually don't wear your clerical clothes.

Are there more and more clergy taking off their clothes recently given the amount of backlash and the amount of anger towards you? I mean, obviously, you can choose whether you put on or take off clerical clothing, proper women can't choose. In fact, many women are very angry because it is clerics like you who dictate what women should and should not wear, and why. is that some of the protesters have called for the end of the clerical system, and they are right, how does that make you feel? The cleric says he supports reforms that show a division of opinion within the religious elite, but ultimately warns against a complete overhaul of the current system so that these young men who are about to act have been trained by the guy in the white shirt who is a member of the siege, who is part of the security apparatus, and they have been extremely involved in the brutal repression of protesters and part of their mission is to train young children to know Islam and know how to operate in Iran with the hope that this country can continue on the path it is on today masah m what does it mean to be a b how to recruit all these children is the hope that these boys will grow up and become kisses.

Do any of you plan to be a member of the B when you grow up? Why do these Young Voices show how the Islamic Republic influences the Next Generation? But do it successfully. Any criticism of the regime must be silenced since the last

uprising

around 100 journalists have been arrested who broke the news about Massa's death. Amini was sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison. Yalda Mari is a photojournalist who has been arrested at least six times. When was this photo taken 16 years ago? It was in the early days that Gad started working. They wanted to take this woman to the police station to talk to them or know how to sign a paper or something, but these women were very afraid, so these There are two women arrested for not wearing the headscarf correctly.

Yes, this is another one. This woman is a police officer. Why is she taking them for a job? For misuse and these things. Due to inappropriate clothing. I recognize this photo. I have seen it when this photo was taken 5 years ago and what was happening here was a demonstration at the University So this is inside the University and she is a protester yes this has changed my life forever so this photo that was taken years ago is They still cause you problems today, yes, many of them have problems with journalistic issues, they have problems with everything you want to inform people, um, they are against all this, mhm, they are against media, you know, against the people, they know their reality. against reality, so these are the documents you have from your court cases, so the case is open, yes, the case is open, aha, and it won't be closed for 5 years, no, no, so you're under Surveillance, basically, yes. this is exactly what they wanted what was your crime take photos just take photos yes, but you know what they wrote on the paper and how much time you spent in prison this time uh 92 days 92 60 days in public prison uh and 32 days in solitary confinement of Solarity, how was it so difficult?

You think you're really going to get angry. If there's nothing. No one. What kind of thoughts were you having? It was like hell. I really wanted to kill myself. Do you think it was like that? There will be consequences for you for speaking to us and I have a brave face on it, but the system you are facing is a well-oiled machine. We requested multiple interviews with senior members of President Ibrahim Ri's government, we were finally granted a meeting with one of his vice presidents as the only female member of the current government. n Kazali is the Minister of Women's Affairs.

There are quite strict laws, including the lawof the hijab. Because it is necessary? Why can't women have that freedom of choice? Amini, who is 22 years old. who was arrested by the moral police for showing too much hair and then died in police custody she was murdered by the authorities, that is not something you will admit. After mounting pressure, authorities released a cropped CCTV video showing Masa Amini collapsing in detention center evidence says he died of a heart attack, but Amini's family says he did not have any pre-existing heart disease and Witnesses reportedly saw her being brutally beaten just before this.

The only investigation that came out of this was carried out by the Authority. themselves, that is, essentially like a murderer investigating himself. Yes I think the problem is that the only people who have actually done anything research is yourself, isn't it hypocritical of you to say that you represent women's rights and yet your role is actually part of this repression against them? Well, it's very difficult to know because this is not a democracy and therefore the numbers are extremely difficult to calculate. I know, but I would say you know this seems to be the biggest challenge or one of the biggest challenges for the Islamic regime in the last few decades.

I know you know the scale of what

happened

here is enormous, it's one of the biggest challenges. to the Islamic Republic in recent decades, doesn't it make you think for a moment that you know that perhaps some of your ideas might be outdated and that you know many young people in Iran who do want to see a change in In response to these protests there have been a brutal widespread repression that has been quite relentless. There have been tens of thousands of protesters arrested according to state figures. There have also been hundreds who have been beaten and tortured.

Hundreds more have been killed. There are reports of sexual assault inside. the prisons themselves several protesters have been executed several more are sitting on death row why such brutal repression is okay, it seems we are talking about polar opposite realities I guess you know this is one of the most difficult places in which I have worked as a journalist, you know they follow us everywhere, the police prevent us from talking to anyone, many other people are afraid to talk to us, as they should, why do you make it so difficult for journalists to report the truth just one day after our conversation with the vice president was when we found our van suddenly surrounded by a team of the Iranian Security Forces, they held a gun to our heads and took everything from us later that night, while we were detained we They said they suspected we were working under false pretenses.

The next day we were ordered to leave the country, it was an abrupt end to our stay in Iran, a harsh reminder that freedom and truth are far from being achieved here and that the power and vulnerability of the regime lies in its ability to silence the most disturbing voices of its own people since we left the country Iran's Parliament has passed a new hijab bill in which those dressed inappropriately now face up to 10 years in prison. Iran's infamous morality police have reportedly returned to the streets recently. Gavand, 16, died of the same. afflictions like Masa amini just a year later