The year 2023 will be that of the “victory” of the demonstrators, Iranian opponents in exile affirmed on Monday and called for the overthrow of the regime in Tehran, which has been weakened by demonstrations since September.
“By organizing and standing together, 2023 will be the year of victory for the Iranian nation. The year of freedom and justice in Iran,” declared these opponents, leading personalities from the fields of culture, human rights or even the world of sports.
“The year 2022 has been a year of glorious solidarity for Iranians of any faith, language or political affiliation,” they said.
This news, published at the same time on their personal accounts on social networks, appears as a desire to show a unity that has long been missing in the Iranian diaspora, which was divided into several political factions after the Shah’s fall in 1979.
The Iranian opponents who posted the message include the actress Tsar Amir Ebrahimi, who will be crowned in Cannes in 2022, the son of the deposed Shah Reza Pahlavi, and the influential dissident Masih Alinejad, who lives in the USA.
But also the Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi or the former soccer player Hamed Ali Karimi.
“We are united to gain freedom, we […] will not be silent,” actress Golshifteh Farahani posted on Instagram.
For Roham Alvandi, Iran specialist and professor at the London School of Economics, this message is “a beacon of hope in these dark times.”
In Iran, protests erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died after being arrested by morality police on September 16 for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, including wearing the veil in the public for women.
At least 476 people have been killed by security forces since September 16, according to a recent report by Iran Human Rights (IHR), an Oslo-based NGO. According to the UN, about 14,000 people were arrested.
Iranian officials say hundreds of people have been killed in the “riots,” including dozens of members of the security forces.
The judiciary announced that it had sentenced 11 people to death for their role in the protest. Activists estimate the number is twice as high.
Two death row inmates, aged 23, have already been executed and found guilty of killing or injuring police or paramilitaries during the protests.