CIVICUS speaks with Iranian activist Asal Abasian about the situation more than a year since the start of the protest wave triggered by Mahsa Amini’s killing by the morality police and the prospects for change in Iran.
Asal is a journalist and queer feminist activist. After receiving threats, she fled Iran in 2021. She first stayed in Turkey, where she freelanced with various foreign-based Persian media outlets and Turkish media. She’s currently based in Paris, France.
What’s the situation in Iran since the start of the protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death?
More than a year after the start of the biggest protest wave we have seen since the Islamic Republic was established in 1979, it is clear that most people don’t support the regime anymore and want it gone.
But the protests have been crushed by the implacable repression of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and many people are tired of fighting.
The anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death and the eruption of the protest movement was a key moment. The regime expected protests to reignite and took every precaution to prevent them. Every living being who was seen as possibly causing any trouble was thrown into jail and repression escalated to a point that many people decided it was pointless to keep fighting.
In spite of this, civil society has continued resisting in any way possible. Underground organising and online struggles are ongoing – and activists continue paying the price. Many remain in prison – including Narges Mohammadi of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
But activism embodies our best hope of overthrowing the Islamic Republic and the mullahs’ regime. Young people are on the frontlines of this struggle, and young fighters are tireless. Many have lost their eyes and other young members of their families in the struggle, but their anger and determination remain as strong as ever.
What roles are Iranian LGBTQI+ people playing in this struggle?
Because the fight is not just against mandatory hijab but about major underlying issues and the whole system of gender apartheid and oppression, not only women but also the queer community have played significant roles.
Personally, while in Iran, I focused my activism on raising awareness of gender equality issues. I had to do so in a clandestine way because of the many security challenges and because everything I did was framed as a crime against the regime. Now in exile I continue doing the same kind of work, but I am able to do it freely and without censorship. For the first time I am free to express my identity as a queer feminist and organise for LGBTQI+ rights.
What is the situation of LGBTQI+ rights in Iran?
LGBTQI+ rights are non-existent in Iran, where homosexuality is illegal and adult men can potentially be punished with the death penalty. It is no surprise that LGBTQI+ people live their lives as discreetly as possible and are virtually invisible in public.
A positive development following Mahsa Amini’s murder by the moral police was the unprecedented visibility of LGBTQI+ people in the nationwide protests. Even amid the terrible repression, it was a liberating moment. It was a wonderful and unexpected experience in a country where being queer continues to be punishable with execution.
As a legacy of that fleeting moment of public visibility, we are now seeing a more sustained presence of LGBTQI+ people in the virtual space. Social media are now a scene in which the queer community can be politically engaged. This was unthinkable before the revolution for ‘women, life and freedom’. This is why I emphasise that what is underway, even now that street protest has subsided, is a revolution against gender apartheid, challenging issues that are much deeper than the compulsory hijab.
How has the Iranian diaspora supported the protest movement in Iran?
The Iranian diaspora is big. There are sizeable Iranian communities in North America, Europe, the Gulf countries and the Middle East. There have been several waves of exiles, starting with those who emigrated immediately after the 1979 revolution. Many more like me have joined them recently. Recent exiles have tried to seamlessly continue the work they were doing in Iran, aided by virtual tools. And many more have joined the struggles from a distance, staging protests in cities from Berlin and Paris to Sydney and Toronto.
Others have helped activists in Iran challenge online surveillance and the filtering of online content by the Iranian regime by setting up and paying for virtual private networks (VPNs). These allow users to bypass controls by connecting to a remote server owned by a VPN provider outside the country. They also create secure channels for activists by masking the user’s IP address and encrypting personal data.
Unfortunately, the diaspora opposition has been unable to reach a consensus position on long-term political strategies. All diaspora groups agree that the Islamic Republic should end but they fail to agree on what should replace it. This is one of its major weaknesses and detracts from its effectiveness.
I sincerely hope that the need to be united against the common enemy will help them overcome their differences and build a stronger democratic opposition.
Is Iran any closer to change now than it was a year ago?
I think so. Despite the fact that some in Iran have understandably become tired of fighting, people are still united in their rejection of the compulsory hijab and the Islamic Republic.
However, the people of Iran are unfortunately not receiving the international support that they need. The Islamic Republic will retain its power as long as international support for internal struggles doesn’t materialise. While the struggle led by people inside Iran remains the most important structural factor, it is in the hands of world powers to tilt the scales in their favour – or refuse to do so, thereby enabling the continuity of the Islamic Republic.
Civic space in Iran is rated ‘closed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.
