Situation in Iran: “I don’t actually have any real feelings anymore”

Lethargic, with little hope of immediate improvement. That probably best describes the mood of many people in Iran at the moment. But despite the threat of reprisals, the protests continue here and there.

“The police have been pulling women out of traffic here for weeks, just look again!” says an older taxi driver. In fact, there are several cars lined up next to each other in the middle of a busy intersection in northern Tehran, with three women standing in front of them. One is on the phone and gesturing wildly with her hands.

“They first send you two or three warnings via text message that you were seen driving without a headscarf, then they just strike and take the car away from you,” says the man as he continues to watch the women.

An officer is busy waving another driver over to the side. “Just keep driving! Don’t get out!” another driver suddenly shouts from her small car as she drives past.

The stopped woman shrugs her shoulders helplessly and exhales, visibly annoyed, as the police officer approaches her window. The rest gets lost in Tehran’s rush hour traffic.

Needle pricks that wear you down

Scenes like these describe everyday life in the Islamic Republic of Iran quite well. They are small needle pricks that the state inflicts on people, especially women, every day and can make them weary.

Nevertheless, many women still seem willing to continue the everyday protest of not wearing a headscarf, despite all the reprisals and punishments that may threaten.

If you look around on the streets, the mood in the country is quite simple to put into words: lethargic with little hope of any improvement in the near future. This is partly due to the economic situation.

“Every day a new disappointment”

“You know, I actually don’t have any real feelings left in me, given this bad situation in the country,” explains a young vegetable seller at a market in southeast Tehran.

“Every day is a new disappointment for us.” Inflation is officially over 60 percent, but hardly anyone believes official figures anymore. Many people value it much more highly.

“The prices are so high that we haven’t been able to afford any fruit this year,” reports a woman in her mid-50s. “No bananas, no kiwis, not even apples.”

More dramatic Currency decline

In addition, the Iranian rial, the official currency, which was replaced years ago by the toman due to its many zeros, now has such a low value compared to the dollar or euro that, due to the amounts running into the millions, you can use it almost everywhere Card pays, even at the bread seller on the street or at the shoeshine boy.

Cards only work in Iran if they are from a domestic bank. Internationally, the country remains cut off from the banking system due to US sanctions.

The regime has been blaming the sanctions for the poor economic situation for years. Many Iranians no longer believe that.

Luxury cars in the posh district

The majority of the political power elite live in luxury: expensive clothing, chic furniture or luxury cars for 150,000 euros and up can be seen in Tehran’s posh Niavaran district.

In a car dealership there, a bright blue convertible and a white limousine compete. Both models are from German car manufacturers, who even deliver more to Iran.

But almost all products make it into the country via third countries and the black market, which the powerful Revolutionary Guard controls.

While a salesman inside is making sure the car paint is perfectly shiny, a young man is fishing leftover food out of a garbage can on the sidewalk outside. The impoverishment of Iranian society is increasing.

“The Shah had better come back”

In the market in Tehran’s southeast, there is great anger against the political leadership because of this. A man in his mid-30s even wants to go back to the old days, as he says.

“The mullahs have to go; it would be better for the Shah to come back. If there is to be a change, we have to demand a regime change.” Words that can be dangerous for a man. Like any criticism of the Iranian regime in general.

Well-known rapper sentenced again

The well-known rapper Toomaj Salehi felt this again in the last few days. He was also arrested during the protests last year – and was only released this November.

In a video, he then spoke publicly about torture during his time in prison. He was then arrested again and, according to his lawyer, sentenced to one year in prison, revocation of his passport and various re-education courses for propaganda against the state.

According to the UN, numerous Human rights violations

In the shadow of the Middle East war, the Iranian regime currently seems to want to solve some internal problems without the world public getting wind of it.

For months, activists have been reporting increasing persecution of the already oppressed Iranian Baha’i religious community. A recent UN report speaks of numerous human rights violations in this context, including “increasing intimidation and threats, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detentions”, as well as the deliberate fomenting of hatred against members of the non-Muslim religious community.

More than 700 death sentences in 2023 alone

There have also been numerous executions in recent days, including, according to human rights activists, that of a Kurdish opposition figure.

According to Amnesty International and other NGOs, Iran is the country with the most executions in the world after China; more than 700 people are expected to have been executed by death sentence in 2023, reports the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights.

Longing for lightness

Observers agree that a climate that serves to intimidate people to rebel against the state, no matter what form it takes. The severity that such a climate brings with it can currently be clearly felt on the streets of Tehran.

And also that people long for a little lightness. When a young woman with long blonde hair and a black wool hat suddenly unpacks her violin at the exit of a subway station and simply starts making music, someone calls out to her: “Play girl, play!”

Dozens of people quickly stop and applaud the young woman. And in fact there is suddenly a little lightness in the air: a distraction from all the problems in the country, at least for a brief moment.