Women, life, freedom | Humanity

The wind blowing over Iran is a breath of fresh air. Iranians are there to remind us that, beneath the ashes of oppression, the embers of freedom are never completely extinguished. Through the questioning of the compulsory veil and the incredible general surveillance to which the population has been subjected for decades, an entire regime is being challenged.

We are no longer in 1979 and a growing part of the Iranian population, no doubt now in the majority, wants to be able to live according to their choices. The slogan “Women, life, freedom” chanted by the demonstrators expresses both the aspirations for respect for women, in particular their desire to wear the veil or not, but also to put an end to a daily life where violence and death lurk at the corner of the streets as soon as the regime hardens. We can also read the social aspirations of a people whose daily deprivations are akin to survival. The record number of social conflicts in recent years testifies to this. The largesse of a movement that affects the whole territory and that mixes women, of course, but also men, young people and generations that we have been trying to silence for so long is a sign of the deep crisis that the country. The response of Iranian dignitaries is another.

Obviously, with nearly 100 dead, the Internet cut off and government poisoning, the repression was violent. But the sad memory of the November 2019 protests, when 300 protesters were killed in just a few days, reminds us that the regime is capable of much worse. The Revolutionary Guards, the spearhead of the repression, have not yet fully taken action. To avoid this, the support of the international community will be decisive. The voices must therefore multiply to force the regime to listen to its people and not allow this cry for freedom to be stifled in blood.