Nasrin Sotoudeh, the famous Iranian lawyer, has been arrested. The former Sakharov Prize winner is a prominent figure of opposition in Iran. This signifies that the regime of the mullahs is not loosening its grip on Iranian society despite the war and Israeli-American bombings. “We will bring them back to the Stone Age,” promises U.S. President Donald Trump. This does not dampen the hope of seeing democracy arrive in his country one day for Arash (first name changed), whose testimony was collected by Radio Classique and who has just left Iran.
Arash arrived in Paris three days ago with his elderly parents, passing through Armenia. “My father needs medical treatment that no longer exists in Iran because of the war. We had to come to Europe to treat him, otherwise his cancer could return. I wanted to take with me all the important things, in case I could never return or if our house was destroyed. But we forgot everything,” he said.
When the fighting started on February 28th, Arash was in southern Iran. “I woke up to the sound of explosions – the windows of the house were shaking – then I went to get my car repaired. While walking, an explosion threw me two to three meters. I didn’t fall, but it was brutal and scary. In the car, I picked up people on the street with me; there were no taxis. They were scared, they wanted to leave.”
After three hours of his journey, a friend called to inform him of the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “I was sure that the regime was going to fall in a few hours or a few days. It was a mix of conflicting feelings because this regime has caused a lot of suffering to me and my nation. But I was very worried about what would happen next – were we going to become like Libya, Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan? I’m not sure that if the regime falls, we will have a better life.”
Upon returning to the capital, Arash lives in constant anxiety as bombs rain down on Tehran. “There were so many explosions. Once, while driving on a road, I saw twelve, thirteen completely destroyed buildings. It looked like Gaza. There are checkpoints everywhere. These are very dangerous places because they are targeted by Israel.”
Facing the threat of the U.S. president to “bring Iran back to the Stone Age,” Arash has one goal: to return to his country. “I don’t want to be outside Iran while there is a war. Whatever happens to my country, I want to be there. Because I love my country, even if it’s the Stone Age. I don’t want Iran to be divided into multiple countries. Of course, I prefer a democratic government, but I am certain that the United States and Israel will never give us a democratic regime.”
Despite his strong opposition to the regime, Arash resigns himself to rely on the mullahs and their army. “I need military support to face Donald Trump. I am very sad to say this. The worst things I have experienced in my life happened because of the government and the army. Even though they are killers, primitives – despite everything they are – we know them. Now we need them to prevent these idiots from bringing our country back to the Stone Age. After that, we will know what to do with these idiots in the army and the government. We must have a democracy. We will work for that. We need to be braver, more united as the Iranian nation. And I am sure: it will be possible.”
-Laurie-Anne Toulemont
