Azam Jangravi was on edge for a whole month. Since Dec. 28, the 42-year-old Canadian-Iranian has watched helplessly as Iranians took to the streets to protest soaring prices after the Iranian currency, the rial, plummeted to a record low against the dollar.
The protests began when shopkeepers closed their shops in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and soon spread to other Iranian provinces. Crowds also demonstrated against the alleged political corruption of the authoritarian theocracy and accused the Iranian regime of prioritizing proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah over the needs of its own people.
The Islamic Republic’s harsh crackdown on peaceful dissent has killed 6,000 people, according to human rights groups. Tens of thousands more were injured. What’s more, Iran imposed the longest telecommunications blackout in history, so Iranians were unable to contact their loved ones on the ship.
Over the past week, Jangravi had sporadic contact with her relatives as authorities began to loosen controls on phone connections. She attended a recent rally in Toronto – attended by more than 50,000 people in frigid temperatures – to stand with fellow Iranians, urging Western intervention and calling for the overthrow of the authoritarian regime.
Jangravi is no stranger to activism. In 2017, Youngraoui climbed onto a platform in Tehran and raised her hijab above her head, knowing she would be arrested, violating the regime’s strict dress code.
Jangravi was interviewed Yahoo Canada Speaking from her home in Toronto, she talks about what she’s hearing from inside Iran, why this The mass demonstration seemed to make a difference, and the impact it had on her personally.
Your parents and brother live in Iran. Can you contact them?
Last week, I was finally able to speak to my mother for the first time since the blackout – the first time the authorities have allowed phone calls, although calls are limited to two minutes and the lines are frequently cut off.
She told me not to worry, that they were safe, but I knew she was trying to forgive me so I wouldn’t worry. At the same time, my mom also told me that it felt like they were living in a war. It’s just that this war is against their own defenseless people who are just demanding their rights. At night they could hear authorities shouting and attacking people, she said. She said it was like living in hell.
I haven’t been able to speak to my father or brother. I hope that will be soon.
Over the weekend, you posted on your social media channels that ten of your relatives were killed or wounded in Tehran and Isfahan as a result of the regime’s crackdown. Mind elaborating?
My mother said she knew some of our relatives had been shot. One of them is 20 years old. Another had two toddlers. Another man was just watching the protest from the roof of his home when he was shot. Others also participated in the protest. None of them had weapons of any kind. Security guards shot them down.
Six relatives were killed and four others injured.
As far as I know, injured people are afraid to go to any hospital for fear of being arrested and killed. What did you hear directly?
They kill people in the streets. Or they arrest them and then kill them. If authorities were unable to take a person into custody because of their injuries, they killed them on the spot.
Some people were hurt or injured. When they are taken to the hospital, authorities will arrest them there and remove them from the hospital. Now doctors are not even allowed to treat patients: if they do, they are arrested. I was talking to a doctor recently and he said a lot of people are injured but they don’t seek medical care.
I got the news from a friend in Isfahan: He was injured and his family was afraid to take him to the hospital because they were afraid he would be arrested. He was injured while demonstrating with friends. His friend died because medical care was unavailable at home. He is 32 years old and has a young child.
Host Joko Winterscheidt won the award for Best Documentary Series for her Prime Video show “Joko Winterscheidt Presents: The Worlds Most Dangerous Show” and stood next to Iranian women’s rights activist Azam Jangravi at the 2023 German Television Awards at the Coloneum. (Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/Photo Alliance via Getty Images)
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
In 2017, you were arrested and detained by Iranian authorities for violating the regime’s strict dress code by publicly discarding your headscarf in central Tehran. Your experience of escaping the country with your young daughter was nothing short of traumatic. Is what’s happening in Iran right now triggering PTSD from the most painful moment in your life?
I have nightmares. I can’t sleep. I would have panic attacks. I can’t work. My heart is in Iran. Like many Iranians in the diaspora, I suffer from the inability to help. I feel helpless.
I try not to cry in front of my daughter. She’s a teenager now; I don’t want her to relive the trauma of that time. It’s very, very difficult.
I try not to cry in front of my daughter.
You recently participated in a rally in Toronto calling for change and international intervention in Iran. You must feel that our government should do more.
Unfortunately, Prime Minister Carney has taken no action. The only thing Anita Anand said in a statement was that if anyone is a permanent resident or citizen of Iran, please contact the federal government for assistance. These are empty words. This is not enough. No action.
On top of that, US President Donald Trump has also spread rhetoric about the Islamic Republic of Iran. He said he heard protesters had guns, so authorities had to shoot them. No one has a gun! They are protesting and demonstrating peacefully! When the president of the United States repeats the IRGC’s narrative and propaganda, the regime sees it as a license to further execute people. They will use the president’s words as fuel to draft documents for protesters to execute them. It’s terrible.
By contrast, a week ago, Trump urged Iranians to continue protesting, saying “help is on the way.” This seemed to indicate that he was considering military action against the regime. But recently he said the killings of citizens had stopped, and he appeared to have backed away from his original remarks. What do you think about this?
Trump promised the Iranian people that he stood with them. Believing what he said, more people took to the streets to demonstrate.
The Iranian people are waiting for Trump. They want to see him attack and overthrow the regime. Whenever I talk to my mother, she always asks, “When is President Trump going to attack? Did you hear anything?” All of us are waiting for this to happen. This is the only hope for the Iranian people at the moment.
Protests appeared to have dwindled over the past week as the regime increased the presence of security forces.
People have been staying indoors, especially at night. The regime has ordered businesses to close at night. There are many security guards on the street. Authorities searched and interrogated people, asking them why they were out and where they were going. The guards were armed and scary.
What message do you want to send to the Canadian government and leaders of the Western world?
Help us change the regime. The Iranian people cannot continue to tolerate this situation. This is a massacre.
Do you hope this regime is coming to an end?
I do believe we are at a turning point. I believe this is the beginning of the end for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It could be months or a year before the regime finally collapses. But I believe this is the beginning of change.
Help us change the regime. The Iranian people cannot continue to tolerate this situation. This is a massacre.
