Mehdi Mahmoudian has been repeatedly jailed for many years for his activism in opposition to the Iranian regime.
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Iranian political and human rights activist Mehdi Mahmoudian has been out and in of his nation’s prisons over a long time for daring to dissent.
On February 17, he was launched from his newest stint. He had been arrested for being amongst 17 political activists, artists and human rights attorneys who signed an open letter blaming then Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei for the killing of hundreds of anti-government protesters.
Eleven days after Mahmoudian’s launch from the Nowshahr jail, the U.S. and Israel launched a struggle on Iran. Khamenei was killed on the primary day, however the battle is widening.
Iran is retaliating in opposition to its Gulf neighbors, key U.S. ally Azerbaijan says it was hit by Iranian drones, Israel is placing Iran-back Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and European international locations are speeding to deploy army belongings to the area.
“Unfortunately, I don’t see a bright future,” Mahmoudian instructed Morning Version host Leila Fadel. “If we cannot break this cycle of violence, it will go on forever.”
Mahmoudian can also be the co-writer — alongside director Jafar Panahi — of It Was Simply an Accident, a contender for finest worldwide function movie and finest unique screenplay on the Oscars on March 15. He shared with NPR his ideas on this precarious chapter of Iran’s historical past.
The next alternate has been edited for size and readability.
Leila Fadel: You are in Tehran proper now. Are you able to inform me what it is like the place you’re?
Mehdi Mahmoudian: I’m within the heart of Tehran. The size of shelling right here has grow to be much less intense since final night time. Proper now, they’re attacking the east aspect of Tehran. Within the central areas, it’s quieter in comparison with yesterday.
Fadel: What’s it prefer to should be residing by this proper now?
Mahmoudian: There may be virtually nothing lovely a couple of struggle. However this struggle additionally introduced us some happiness — the dying of somebody who, for years, took the Iranian folks hostage. It is a struggle the place we’re watching individuals who have been strolling beside us yesterday, who’re gone at the moment.
Fadel: I simply need to ask about that specific individual, Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If you heard he’d been killed, you had been jailed over blaming the supreme chief for the killing of protesters. What went by your head?
Mahmoudian: I had two emotions concerning the dying of Mr. Khamenei. One was happiness due to the dying of a dictator. The opposite is my sorrow for the best way he died. Mr. Khamenei should not have died, he ought to have been prosecuted in a court docket, so nobody else dares to reestablish tyranny. Mr. Khamenei was killed by individuals who, in 1953, toppled a beloved authorities in Iran and changed it with a dictatorship. They put in a dictator who, for the subsequent 25 years, managed the future of our folks. And I’m frightened that this time america will substitute one dictator with one other to rule Iran.
Fadel: You are referring to when the U.S. intervened within the fifties. You are frightened that the U.S. will then as soon as once more simply put a U.S.-aligned dictator?
Mahmoudian: Sure, I’m frightened. Lately, what the U.S. did in Afghanistan was the identical. After 20 years of struggle in Afghanistan, the U.S. left the nation and its folks within the fingers of dictators and tyrants like Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Fadel: If you say you had these two emotions concerning the killing of the supreme chief, happiness as a result of he is a dictator, he’s answerable for the killing of Iranians, for the repression of Iranians. However you additionally wished him to face his accusers. Is it about him having to face the people who he harm and killed? Is it about having the world see that justice was served right here?
Mahmoudian: Here’s what is vital to me: I do not desire a repeat of the previous. And what’s clear right here is that Mr. Khamenei is the primary individual answerable for latest crimes in Iran. We consider that whether or not he’s useless or alive, if the buildings he constructed don’t finish or if the one who replaces him is a tyrant who needs to rule alone, the result would be the identical.
Fadel: What do you need to see occur in Iran at this second?
Mahmoudian: Our hope is that the Islamic Republic will relinquish energy and switch it to the folks. These opposing the Islamic regime throughout the nation ought to rise to energy, and thru a referendum, we should always determine what sort of folks we would like. This manner, we are able to set up a democratic regime in Iran. That is what we have fought for over the a long time.
Fadel: When you concentrate on the longer term now, is it doable to interrupt that cycle? I imply, usually folks take vengeance once they see anyone who has harm them, who has killed their household, who has tortured them. And we have seen that cycle in Syria, in Iraq and different locations the place dictatorships have been in place after which changed. Can it’s completely different for Iran?
Mahmoudian: Sadly, I do not see a shiny future. I can’t say that the folks of Iran need to or have already reached the purpose the place they’re in search of justice as an alternative of revenge. I need to emphasize that I am not speaking about forgiveness. I am speaking about justice. My level is, if we can’t break this cycle of violence, it’ll go on without end. Within the 1979 revolution, we noticed many individuals executed, and now many individuals need to get their revenge. Most likely those that are executed at the moment have individuals who will need to search revenge sooner or later. What can break this cycle of revenge as justice? If we cease and abolish the establishments answerable for previous violence and people who dedicated these crimes are punished. However authorized punishments should align with human rights legal guidelines.
Fadel: Simply to make clear, while you say justice, you need them to be going to court docket, being tried beneath worldwide humanitarian regulation? And what establishments must be destroyed in order that systemic repression can cease?
Mahmoudian: In Iran, our first step must be transitioning away from the Islamic Republic. What we have to see is that as an alternative of revenge, there must be truthful trials in Iran or at worldwide establishments. Nonetheless, I ought to emphasize that torturing and hurting residents is justified throughout the construction of the Islamic Republic, and that is an apparent violation of human rights that we are able to tackle as soon as we transition from the Islamic Republic.
The published model of this story was produced by Lindsay Totty and Milton Guevara. Reena Advani and Olivia Hampton edited.
