Op-Ed: Iran has a long history of protests. This time it’s different
In the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday, thousands of people took to the streets to protest the execution of 19 people who’d been arrested on charges of being part of the “Hafez” resistance network. In the same space, on Wednesday, students held protests to demand more freedom and more from the government. And in the southern city of Shiraz, there was an entirely different type of protest: students demanding their right to freely express their opinions, in contrast to those who protested against the execution of 19 people in Tehran.
In this country of extremes, it’s not always easy to figure out what kind of protests are and aren’t being staged.
So we sat down with some of the young people who took to the streets of Tehran and Shiraz to learn more about the protests.
What’s your name?
Amina
My name is Amina, and I live in Tehran.
Why did you take to the streets on Wednesday?
I woke up just around 6:30 a.m. I’m a freshman in a high school here. We didn’t have a class scheduled for today so I decided to wake up early because I’m studying in my spare time.
Are there many other students with you?
Three of us were among those who took part in the protest in Tehran.
Why did you decide to go to the university?
I wanted to come to this university because I wanted to study in this university.
What else are you studying?
Besides philosophy, science is my passion. In Iran, there isn’t much about science.
In what are you studying in the school?
I’m studying in the science department, because I’m interested in the universe.
What exactly are you studying?
In my class, we have a teacher named Mr. Mir-Isfah