Parastu Foruhar is a well-known Iranian artist and activist. Her parents were killed in their home in Tehran on November 21, 1998, allegedly by Iranian security forces. The trial came to nothing. Every year, Parastu Forukhar travels to Tehran to organize a memorial service for his murdered parents. The Iranian authorities prevented her from doing so several times.
We asked the artist to comment on the current situation in her homeland.
DW: Mahsa Amini would have been 23 on September 21st. She was arrested for allegedly wearing the hijab incorrectly. Why do you think she died at the police station?
Parastu Foruhar: It was not even about the refusal to wear the hijab, but simply that Mahsa Amini does not wear it properly. And because of this, she was brutally treated and beaten. And now the women who take to the streets, arranging numerous protests, are in favor of an absolute rejection of the hijab. Women burn them. They do it in public. Several women have even been shot in recent days.
– How do you perceive such news from Iran, what happens to you during the days of mass protests in your homeland?
– It makes me angry, very angry. And I am terribly sad that young women are subjected to such cruelty and cannot escape this violence in any way. It’s like a trap. This religious dictatorship is a set of rules based on patronage, which takes away the right of women to make their own decisions. Generation after generation, Iranian women have fought for their rights, but they continue to fail in the face of the brutality of power.
You have already seen a lot and endured a lot of suffering. Your parents were killed for political reasons in 1998. What are you afraid of in the current situation?
– I am very excited. I have noticed that some Internet services like WhatsApp have been shut down by the Iranian regime. The authorities are trying to reinforce the lockdown in such a way that no messages can leak out to the general public. Whenever something like this happens, the government carries out even more severe repression, mass arrests or indiscriminate shooting into the crowd. The authorities become even more brutal, trying to suppress the protests.
On September 21, 2022, it all started with arrests – not only of women at rallies, but also of well-known activists who did not take part in the protest. The so-called security forces came after them and took them away without explanation. Their houses were literally stormed. So far, there is no information about them.
– British and American actress of Iranian origin Nazanin Boniadi tweeted that in 1979 there was a revolution against women. And what we see today is a revolution of women…
– I think that many people who took part in the 1979 revolution did not think that this was a revolution against women. They took to the streets hoping for freedom, independence and justice, but the protests were crushed. I believe that the Iranian regime is inherently misogynistic. This is a kind of apartheid system against women who should not have equal rights with men.
– You have been living in Germany for a long time. What are you trying to do against anger and powerlessness?
– I try to go to Iran every year – on the anniversary of my parents’ death, despite the fact that it is dangerous. A court in Iran sentenced me to six years of probation, that is, with a probationary period. However, I was in Iran last year. For me, this is an act of resistance, a culture of remembrance, as well as a demand for justice. In addition, I do my best to spread truthful information about what is really happening in my homeland, in order to support people suffering from the regime in this way. It is clear that change must come from within, but democracies can and should also support this movement in Iran.
– Do you believe that this time everything will be different?
– Oh, that’s a difficult question. Every time I hope so, because the protesters take to the streets so boldly. I am inspired by this human will and the desire to achieve a better life for myself and the whole society through protests. But the consequences of repression sit very deep in me, memories of cruelty constantly live in my head.
– Many creative people who were forced to leave Iran are speaking out on social media about the current protests. They are trying in this way to give a voice to their colleagues who have remained in the country. What can you do in this situation?
“At times like these, I am an activist, a citizen charged with continuing this fight. It is primarily about creating a resonant space for these people and their messages from the scene. Later, these existential experiences will definitely find their place in my work.
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