Inside Iran: What Happened to Iran’s Women-led Uprising?

so we've just had a pretty abrupt ending to our time filming here in Iran the yesterday we were leaving the hotel when we were jobed on by eight guys who told us they were with Iran Security Forces um they took our phones they pointed a gun in our heads they took all our personal belongings they took all our camera gear they took all our footage um they then took us back to a hotel room um well we've been for the last 18 hours or so they have allowed us or in fact they've told us to leave the country now with our phones only they've kept our computers they've kept everything else it has been the most stressful 24 hours and I honestly am so relieved to be getting out of [Music] here the Islamic Republic of Iran is no stranger to popular uprisings but the demonstrations sweeping the country today are different last September 22-year-old Masa amini was arrested by Iran's morality police she was accused of violating the country's strict dress code and taken to a Detention Center where she was allegedly beaten she died soon after that sparked outrage and months of mass protests erupted across Iran [Music] women burned their hijabs cut their hair and stormed the streets in Rage the regime responded with Brute Force detaining tens of thousands killing hundreds and executing seven several dozen security officers were also killed in the clashes [Music] one week before our detention we arrived in Iran we're the first US TV crew to be here since the chaos first broke out we are here in Iran I can't quite believe it but we have been given very rare visas to come and operate here by the Iranian regime so we're just driving towards a neighborhood in tan that's been at the center of some of these protests over the last few months this neighborhood has been a gathering point for young people rebelling against the system including five girls who posted this viral video of themselves dancing uncovered they were later arrested so you can see a bunch of these restaurants and cafes have been shut down recently by the authorities in a very clear concerted effort to close down shop cafes restaurants businesses that are allowing women who are not wearing hijabs to enter so they're actually targeting the businesses themselves but you can see despite that a lot of women around here are still walking around completely uncovered in a very very clear sign of defiance against the authorities demands do you mind having a chat with us do you know what happened around here can you tell me why is it you're worried about showing your [Music] face he was right as soon as he started talking the police arrived to St us as Vice huh why is Farm rare America [Music] we've been here for 2 minutes and the police have already surrounded us the police have asked for us to leave this area because there's a protest that's about to start in a few minutes and they definitely do not want us seeing that we were taken to the roadside and detained for several hours till night fell we deleting it more police arrived are we not allowed to be here so we've finally been Let Go by the police after a couple of hours hours they insisted on deleting some of our footage and we're now just driving around the city because we've heard that there are protests happening and it's some very strong police presence around the city right now can see a bunch of Riot police on the corner we think that we're being followed so we can't actually get out of the car to see what's going [Music] on later that night chants of protest came ringing out through Teran [Music] it quickly became apparent that our permissions to be here came with restrictions we could only visit places pre-approved by Iran's media Wing Tan's International book fair was deemed uncontroversial enough for us to attend but as soon as we arrived we were told by a passing stranger that all the books that they and we saw must now be government approved we're choosing not to show his face you know the current situation is so terrible right now has the type of books that are being sold here and being showcased here changed yeah yeah of course in what way the way that some some Publishers are not allowed to to exhibit their books here why is that because of political measures they been limited one of the conditions of people coming here is that women are dressed correctly so this here right at the entrance of the event is the center for advising women on how to wear the hijab and what could go wrong if you don't what is your role here we are speaking about their questions about why we have this if we are Muslim why should we have this if they are somebody who are not Muslim they why why they should have this uhhuh I am here to speak with the teenagers with the young people to tell to them think about my speaking think about what I say to you so you're trying to influence them yes yes yes and now the media those media who don't want our country don't want our say and say and tell and tell about your woman don't shouldn't have this this is not Freedom so you think that it's Western media that is influencing women of course it is of course it is you know it's nothing to do with the fact that some women might choose not to wear a head scar very little you know very little some women you know um Iranian people the the problem of Iranian people is not Islam but the medas don't want Islam you know your problem is this is scar no Amma Islamic revolution because we love Islam and Islam is whatever God say to us not whatever I want you want whatever you want whatever she want whatever you know so there shouldn't be that personal freedom of choice just choice in the in the limit of Islam whatever God let us right what is it that you came here for today and do you feel convinced by the conversation that you've been having today yes yes will you change your behaviors or what you wear at all I don't want to change her behavior I don't want her I want her to [Music] teach you're going to stop us yes [Music] why it was just getting interesting we are Iranian all of Iranian are interesting you know yeah it's a very interesting conversation but more and more Iranians are resisting throughout our time a handful of young Brave individuals decided to talk to us we're hiding their identities they told us about the security forces harsh crackdowns which have since expanded to schools and universities very it was protest they don't let us go to the classes without scar they fired a lot of our friends they fired them from doormats they they don't have anywhere to sleep everything is a crime doesn't matter what it is is you can drink you can shake handy girls you can you can't do anything students told us they were forced to sign a pledge saying that they would adhere to the dress code that they wouldn't sit next to those of the opposite sex and that they wouldn't protest signing a pledge is not losing anything it's just that we can't defeat them right now I think our generation is going to overcome the system of eventually just not right now violence they told us had been used to silence them one teenager told me how Security Forces had opened fire on her we were at the park and they just shoot at us without no reason we're just sitting we didn't do anything were you badly hit yeah it's it's really hard I I think I think uh I'm in danger she showed me several rubber bullet wounds scattered across her body the next day we left the capital and traveled to K to try and get a taste for how the religious sex of the country [Music] felt this is a very different sight to what we've been seeing online recently all these people have come to the city of pal which is one of the holiest cities in IR to come show their respect for their religion this is where a lot of the clerical establishment are based and these clerics here have a huge amount of influence a huge amount of power within the Iranian regime so if any change happens it's very likely to start right here much of the country's public anger over the last year is directed towards the all powerful clerical establishment who sat in power for over four decades since the Islamic revolution this anger reached a boiling point last year when religious clerics were attacked their turbin tossed from their heads in a sign of resentment towards the Theocratic system that rules over the Iranian people these recent protests demanding changes have led to a brutal Crackdown there's been tens of thousands of people have been arrested there's been hundreds of people who have been killed hundreds more have been beaten been tortured do you not think that if clerics like yourself condemned that kind of behavior from this regime that that would make a big impact on society these are figures that come from the UN these are figures that come from outside monitoring group these are figures that come from Human Rights organizations so you don't think that there's been any violence towards [Music] protesters it sounds like you stand 100% by the regime by the government it sounds like you don't really want anything to change but not all clerics are aligned we met up with Muhammad tagi fazel mbodi a self-proclaimed reformist cleric who challenges the current government by questioning their legitimacy you know I wasn't expecting a religious cleric in Iran to let me ride around with you and let you be seen without any of your clothing on so when you drive around town you normally don't wear your clerical clothing are there more and more clerics recently taking their clothes off given the amount of backlash and the amount of anger towards you guys I mean obviously you get to choose whether you put on or take off your clerical clothing right women don't get to choose in fact a lot of women are very angry that it's clerics like yourself who are dictating what women should and shouldn't wear why is that some of the protesters have called for an end to the clerical establishment which is you guys right how does that make you feel [Music] foree the cler says he supports reforms which shows a division of opinions within the religious Elite but he ultimately warns against a complete overhaul of the current system so these young kids here who are about to perform have been trained by the guy in the white shirt who's a member of the besiege which is part of the security apparatus they have been extremely involved in the brutal Crackdown of protesters and part of their mission is to train young kids to get to know Islam to get to know how to operate in Iran in the hopes that this country can continue in the vein that it's going today masah [Music] [Music] [Music] m what does it mean to be a b how do you recruit all these [Music] [Music] kids is the hope that these guys grow up to to become [Music] beses do any of you guys plan to be members of the B when you grow up [Music] why these Young Voices show how the Islamic Republic influences the Next Generation but to do that successfully any criticism of the regime must be silenced since the latest Uprising around a 100 journalists have been arrested those who broke the news about Massa amini's death was sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison yalda Mari is a photojournalist who's been arrested at least six times so when was this photo taken 16 years ago it was at the first days that uh Gad started to work they wanted to put this woman to police station to talk with them or know sign a paper or something but these women were very scary about it so these are two women being arrested for not wearing their head scarves properly yeah this is another one this woman is a police officer what is she taking them in for for a job for bad you know wearing and these things so for improper clothing I recognize this photo I've seen it around when was this photo taken 5 years ago and what was happening here it was a demonstration in Tan University this is inside the University and she's a protester yeah this has changed my life forever so this photo that was taken years ago is still causing you problems today yeah a lot of they have problems with the journalistic issues they have problems with everything that you want to inform people um they are against all of this mhm they are against media they are you know against people know their reality they are against the reality so these are the documents that you have from your court cases so the case is open yeah the case is open uh-huh and it it's not going to be closed for another 5 years no no so you're under watch basically yeah this is exactly what they wanted what was your crime taking picture just taking photos yeah but you know what they wrote on the paper was and how long did you spend in prison this time around uh 92 days 92 60 days in public uh prison and 32 days in Solarity solitary confinement how was that it was very tough you think that you are really going to be mad yeah there is nothing there nobody's there what kind of thoughts were you having it was like a hell I really wanted to kill myself do you think there will be consequ consquences for you in talking to us y m put on a brave face but the system she's up against is a well-oiled machine we requested multiple interviews with senior members of President Ibrahim ri's government eventually we were granted a meeting with one of his vice presidents as the only female member of the current government n kazali is the Minister of women's Affairs there are pretty strict laws in place including the hijab law why is that necessary why can't women have that freedom of choice amini who's a 22y old woman who was taken in by the morality police for having too much of her hair showing and later died in police custody was killed by the authorities is that not something that you [Music] admit for after mounting pressure the authorities released a clipped CCTV video showing Masa amini collapsing in the Detention Center proof they say that she died from a heart attack but amini's family say she had no pre-existing heart conditions and Witnesses reportedly saw her being badly beaten just before this the only investigation to have come out of this was done by The Authority themselves which is I mean essentially like a murderer investigating themselves yes I think the the problem is that the only people who have actually done any investigation is yourself isn't it hypocritical of you that you claim to be representing women's rights and yet Your Role is really part of this repression against them well it's very difficult to know because this is not a democracy and therefore the figures are extremely hard to know but I would say that you know this seems like the biggest challenge or one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic regime in the last few decades I know that you know that the scale of what's happened here is enormous it is one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic over the last few decades does it not make you think for a moment that you know maybe some of your ideas could be outdated and that that are you know a lot of young people in Iran who who do want to see [Music] change in response to these protests there has been a brutal widespread Crackdown that's been pretty Relentless there's been tens of thousands of protesters arrested according to the state figures there's also been hundreds that have been beaten and tortured hundreds more who have been killed there's reports of sexual assault within the prisons themselves several protesters have been executed several more are sitting on death row why why such a brutal Crackdown okay it seems like we're talking from polar opposite realities I guess you know this is one of the hardest places I've ever worked as a journalist you know we are followed everywhere the police stop us from talking to anyone a lot of other people are terrified to speak with us as they rightly should be why are you making it so difficult for journalists to report the truth just one day after our conversation with the vice president was when we found our van suddenly surrounded by a team of Iran's Security Forces a gun was held to our head and everything was taken from us later that night while in detention they told us they suspected we were working under false pretenses the next day we were instructed to leave the country it was an Abrupt end to our time in Iran a stark reminder that freedom and Truth are so far from reach here and that the regime's power and vulnerability lies in their ability to silence voices most disturbingly of their own people since we left the country Iran's Parliament has passed a new hijab Bill where those dressed inappropriately now face up to 10 years in prison Iran's Infamous morality police are reportedly back on the streets just recently 16-year-old gavand died from the same afflictions as Masa amini just one year later

Channel: VICE News

Views: 2,752,954

Keywords: VICE News, VICE News Tonight, VICE on HBO, news, vice video, VICE on SHOWTIME, vice news 2023, iran, On the Ground During Iran's Uprising, mahsa amini, iran protest, uprising, vice news documentaries, middle east, africa, isobel yeung, modesty law, Anti-Hijab, Personal Freedom, women's rights, Freedom of Choice, Hijab Protest Movement, dress code, prison death, beatings, protests, freedom, Veil, hijab, Iranian Women, Activism, MyStealthyFreedom, tehran, iran news, masha, amini, death

Id: VAQRCCWsi-s

Length: 28min 39sec (1719 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 23 2023