A panel of young people on August 12, International Youth Day, participated in an online conference on the subject of the problems in Iran and the region. They participated from Canada, Sweden, UK, France and Holland and spoke about the suppression in Iran and how the youth deal with this.
Nikou Kalbali Iranian student in Canada, highlighted the situation in Iran in general. She said there is no gender equality, no freedom of speech and the youth are particularly repressed (they don’t have the freedom to choose what to wear, for example).
Musali Buhaibeh, Yemeni’s PhD student in France, although shocked by recent declarations from Iranian Parliament, remains optimistic. He was astonished to hear a general in the revolutionary guards saying that what is happening in Yemen is a reflection of Islamic vision, but he said that the Iranian people are great in defending their rights. He said the regime is distracting the international community from seeing how people are suffering in Iran economically and socially.
Unemployment is another issue that is particularly affecting the youth in Iran. Reza Rezai, Assistant Professor in Canada, said that “people can’t find jobs, and if they do, they are on minimum contracts” and are not even earing enough to live on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCCI10Mel-c
The executions per capita are the highest in the world and the level of suppression and fear imposed by the mullahs (public hangings in the street to scare the population, for example) is shocking, as is their actions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and so on, said Omid Ebrahimi Iranian student in U.K. However he highlighted the key role that the youth play. For example, a simple demonstration asking “where is my vote in the election?” ended up being a very serious anti-regime protest. He hopes “that the overthrow of the mullahs regime will be soon”. Wissam Alawayed Syrian High school student in France also agreed that the “the youth were the ones who started to get out on the streets asking for freedom”.
Hanif Eslamvand Iranian student in Sweden told the audience that as a young person in Stockholm, he is living life like he should. He is a student and coach to a female football team – something that would not be possible in Iran. His female cousin plays volleyball in Iran, yet her own father has not been able to seen her play, for the simple fact that he is of the opposite sex.
Eslamvand expressed outrage that a country like Iran, where many are living in poverty, cranes are being used to hang people rather than being used to develop towns and cities – something that is desperately needed. His dream is that one day the young people of Iran will be able to speak of their country with “pride and joy”, not tears.
When asked what the Iranian youth want and what the future holds for them, Kalbali said that they are seeking to live in a “free and democratic society”. She said that the youth make up 60% of the population and are working hard to expose the atrocities the regime is committing. They are exposing more and more every day, despite the regimes efforts to stop this. She commented that the cyber police are under orders to block the flow of information and that Iran is one of the biggest consumers of internet filtering devices.
Rezai said that the “regime is at a very weak point”. The nuclear deal has created a lot of rifts which has only resulted in a rise in executions. They are in a desperate situation and are “trying hard to supress the people”.
A viewer asked how the regime in Iran can be shunted from power and Wissam Alawayed said that he believes that once the regime in Syria is overthrown, the one in Iran will be overthrown shortly afterwards. He said the situations are very much connected to each other.
Tariq Bashir, an Iraqi student living in Holland, is hopeful for change in Iran. He has a bright future and says it is “not fair” that the youth in Iran do not have the same. “Stay positive” he tells the youth in Iran and the region. “The more people that fight, the better. If we stand together we are stronger.”
Nikou Kalbali said that it is very difficult to help people in Iran directly as it is so closed and people are repressed to the extreme. However she said that international mobilisation helps as it did in the case of a minor who was sentenced to death – because of the international outcry, his execution has been postponed on more than one occasion.
On the same subject, Omid Ebrahimi said that the purpose of online conferences is to mobilise the youth outside Iran. Outside Iran, where there is no such suppression, “we can group together to free Iran from the mullahs”. Musali Buhaibeh said that journalists and activists do a great job, “but we want the leaders in the governments of our countries to guide Iran through the process of change”.
Rezai also emphasised the importance of the youth outside Iran in spreading awareness. He points out that the general public has assumed that since the nuclear deal there is a resolution and that the situation in Iran is no longer a problem. But “the reality is very different”. He emphasised that people in the West are largely unaware about the proliferation of crystal meth In Iran. A huge percentage of the population is addicted to the drug – many of them women and most of them are young. The regime revels in this because it leaves many people who are no longer concerned about political and social issues, rather they are more concerned with obtaining drugs.
One point that was reiterated time and time again during the conference is that the people outside Iran can make a big difference in the fight for freedom in Iran. The bravery of the Iranian population was praised and the young panellists all expressed hope that the repression would soon end.