When I joined Hive and decided to create content, I made a rule to never talk about myself, about who I am, Where I'm from, and generally anything related to me. But something happened that convinced me to brake the rule and talk:
On 16 September 2022, a 22-year-old girl was brutally murdered by the police of Iran in Tehran, for not wearing a scarf, or as they say "Hijab".
This triggered widespread protests throughout the entire country, and it is still going on after 10 days.
I'm also an Iranian currently living in Tehran, and I'm facing this chaos right now.
People are enraged and furious, and at the same time scared, because the Iranian government has responded with an even more brutal crackdown – deploying riot police officers armed with guns, water cannons, and batons. To this day more than 300 people have been killed by the police forces with direct gunshots, and thousands have been arrested. The internet is shut down and the power has been cut at night.
This is not the only protest that is happening in Iran. In the past 5 years only, we have seen more than 10 national widespread protests, and the subject is always the same: "Freedom"
The people of Iran are living under a dictatorship government that has limited every aspect of our life. We have to wear clothes based on their rules for hijab, we are not allowed to have a girlfriend or boyfriend, being homosexual is punished by the death penalty, and drinking alcohol is punished with prison. All of our conversations throughout any sort of communication device are being recorded and restored by the government, and all sorts of online activities are being strictly tracked by the government (Including publishing this article).
As an Iranian, I can completely understand the frustration of people. Just pay attention to some of the protesters' chants:
"Women, life, freedom"
"Death to the dictator"
"Don't be afraid, we are all together"
"We fight, we die, and we take back Iran"
These words clearly show the pain and suffering of Iranians that are caused by the acts of this regime.
The reason why I wrote this article is to just let the world know that we are currently going through a tough time, and since our internet access has been limited, I ask you to be our voice. Let the world know that we are the damaged victims of this regime.
I honestly don't know what is going to happen but in case I wasn't around tomorrow, I just want you to know that we Iranians love every country and nation in the world, we just were not able to tell you that. With all respect, TAS.
