Mustafa Hijri in a interview with La Repubblica
Mustafa Hijri in a interview with Gianni Vernetti, from Italian newspaper La Repubblica:
Vernetti: Masha Amini, a Kurdish Iranian girl from the city of Saqiz was murdered by the morality police in Teheran for wearing her veil in an “inappropriate” way. Following the killing of Masha Amini a new uprising has erupted in all Iran. Could you tell us something on what is going on in the country?
Hijri: The Islamist regime in Iran has become more exclusionary and oppressive over time. Furthermore, unemployment and poverty have increased in Iranian Kurdistan as well in the Arab, Turkmen, Baloch and other non-Persian regions of the country. These patterns of inequality in the various regions of Iran also manifest themselves in infrastructure, education, healthcare and so on.
The Islamist regime’s destructive policies have also had detrimental effects on the environment. For example, in addition to the patterns of inequality I mentioned, water shortages have become yet another source of popular discontent. Because of inequality, poverty and environmental factors, people migrate from rural areas to metropolitan cities. Consequently, unemployment has increased among poor segments of Iranian society.
Meanwhile, the higher echelons of the regime have enriched themselves and the government has allocated ever-growing shares of the state budget to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the various intelligences agencies and the so-called security forces. The same goes for the various religious institutions and foundations of the Islamic Republic, whose sole function is to uphold the fundamentalist ideology and justify the destructive policies of the regime.
In addition to systemic corruption and cronyism, the Islamic Republic is also funding various militias and terrorist groups in the Middle East, such as Lebanese Hezbollah and shite militias in Iraq, as well as the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Cognizant of these realities, the Iranian population has become increasingly resentful of the Islamist regime. They capitalize on every opportunity to voice their discontent. The murder of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Zhina (Masha) Amini by the so-called morality police for ‘improper hijab’ resulted in demonstrations in Kurdistan which later spread to the rest of Iran. These protests are unprecedented. Protests have taken place in all 31 provinces of Iran and in more the 100 cities. Although the regime has killed 85 protesters as well as injured and arrested thousands of Iranians, the uprising has endured.
Vernetti: The new revolt is much more “political” then the last one of 2018 main focused on economic issues. People in the street asks for freedom and democracy and for a regime change. What is your assessment?
Hijri: As the people of Iran have become aware of the fact that Islamic Republic not only disregards their welfare and security, but also constitutes a threat to their welfare and security, they have concluded that this regime is not amenable to reform or change. Hence, the people have become more resolute in their demands and have grown impatient with the status quo. We have witnessed that they are chanting slogans against the religious dictatorship and in particular the so-called supreme leader Ali Khamenei. The people are calling for liberty, gender equality, justice and democracy. In that sense, the recent uprising cannot be reduced to economic grievances; rather, the uprising is testament of popular political opposition to the Islamic Republic per se.
The difference between the latest uprising in Iran and protests in the past is that they are more widespread and the people are unanimous. Students, teachers and even school pupils spearhead this uprising and they enjoy the support of the rest of the population. Women have been at the forefront of the uprising.
My assessment of the unfolding situation in Iran is that this uprising is going to endure. Even if the regime eventually manages to suppress the uprising, it will not be long before a new uprising will happen in Iran. The destructive policies of the regime – indeed its very existence as a religious dictatorship in a country where people yearn for liberty, secularism and democracy – breeds discontent. In addition, the Iranian people have overcome their fear of the oppressive organs and institutions of the Islamic Republic.
Vernetti: Women and young people in Iran are leading the revolt with extreme bravery and his costs. How many people were killed and injured by the security forces in these days?
Hijri: To this date, Iranian human rights organizations have estimated that 85 demonstrators have been killed. Thousands have been injured and arrested. Given the authoritarian and brutal nature of the Islamist regime and its attempts to cover up its human rights violations, reliable figures are difficult to obtain. Most likely, the number of Iranian citizens that have been killed, injured and arrested are much higher.
Vernetti: The new Iran uprising seems to be really widespread from the city to the villages, from students to workers, involving all ethnic groups. Can you give us some more information on the uprisings?
Hijri: Indeed, all segments of society, irrespective of ethnicity, faith, age and gender are actively participating in the uprising. Women have been at the forefront of the uprising. In addition, what is unprecedented is that in spite of the fact that the Islamist regime has pursued a deliberate policy to incite hostility among the country’s various ethnic and national communities to prevent the formation of a unified opposition, there is an emerging solidarity between Persians, Kurds, and Azeri Turks. For example, in Tehran and Tabriz Persians and Azeri Turks have chanted slogans in support of the Kurdish people’s resistance against the regime. When the “Green Movement” emerged in 2009, it was doomed to be confined to a few major cities. The leaders of the “Green Movement” merely protested the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. This time, the Iranian people are unified in calling for an end to the oppression of women and Iran’s national minorities; they are also united in the struggle for liberty, secularism and democracy. That is why we have witnessed the emergence of a widespread uprising across Iran.
Vernetti: What is happening in the west of the country, in the areas with a majority of Kurdish population? We heard that in some cities the regime security forces completely withdraw. Could you give us some information?
Hijri: Due to the fact that the Kurdish organizations have maintained a clandestine and organized resistance against the Islamic Republic for the past four decades, including the presence of underground Peshmerga forces in Iranian Kurdistan, we enjoy the trust of the Kurdish people. Our party, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, has struggled for the rights of the Kurdish people in Iran since 1945. We have been a major actor in the recent uprising. The uprising started at the initiative of the Kurdish organizations in Iranian Kurdistan and subsequently spread to the rest of Iran. Considering the fact that the Kurdish people have played a prominent role in the recent uprising, the number of demonstrators that have been killed, injured and arrested have been relatively higher in Kurdistan. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards also attacked our headquarters and adjacent refugee camps in Iraqi Kurdistan on September 28 with drones and ballistic missiles, killing 14 members of the Kurdish organizations and refugees, including a pregnant woman, and wounding 58. However, in spite of the organized resistance in Iranian Kurdistan, the regime’s military and paramilitary forces have not withdrawn from Kurdistan. The regime has reinforced its military and paramilitary forces in Kurdistan.
Vernetti: Do you think that the teocratic and dictatorial regime of the Ayatollah could finally fall?
Hijri: In my assessment, the Islamist regime cannot remain in power in the long run. It will eventually fall. In addition to the popular uprising, the regime finds itself in a dire economic predicament. There are also indications of growing discontent within the regime’s military forces and the police, in major part due to the continuous and brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors. International sanctions have also contributed to discontent. The Islamist regime has become a pariah in the international community. The ideology of the regime and its power structure preclude any reform or change. Put differently, the ideology and power structure of the Islamic Republic are antithetical to the demands of the Iranian people for liberty, secularism and democracy. Consequently, no meaningful change in Iran can take place in the absence of regime change. However, the fall of the regime will take some more time.
Vernetti: What is your vision for the future if Iran?
Hijri: Our vision for the future of Iran is a secular, democratic and federal democracy in which the rule of law is upheld and Iran’s various national communities enjoy self-rule within their regions. In terms of foreign policy, we believe that Iran should be at peace with its neighbours in the Middle East and have constructive relations with democracies around the world, in particular the Western democracies. For this vision to be realized, Iran needs to be at peace with itself. Without freedom, secularism, democracy and a federal system that reflects Iran’s diversity, it is not possible to achieve peace at home or in the Middle East, let alone constructive relations with the Western World – against which the Islamic Republic is ideologically hostile.
Vernetti: What do you think that the community of the democratic countries could do for supporting the protests and the uprising of the Iranian people?
Hijri: The democratic countries could take practical steps to support the Iranian people’s uprising. They could, for example, bring the opposition together and in particular initiate dialogue with and aid the Kurdish democratic forces. The democratic countries should take immediate steps to facilitate secure access to the internet for the Iranian population.
Vernetti: Do you think that the negotiation on the Nuclear Deal should interrupted?
Hijri: A renegotiated nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic will only be to the benefit of the Islamist regime – as we witnessed when the world powers reached a deal with Iran in 2015. The economic benefits of the previous nuclear deal were used to expand existing military programs, such as the missile program, and to further prop up the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and other entities that suppress the Iranian people, but also to fund militias and terrorist groups in the Middle East. As the world’s major state sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic will use financial resources from a renegotiated deal to expand further in the Middle East, support terrorism globally, and pose a threat to U.S. allies such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel in the Middle East.
