Standing outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo are Lana Yar (27), Sapideh Sadeghi (43) and Noshin Rad (31). They have braved the cold and rain to talk about the situation in Iran. All three have in recent months spent their weekends demonstrating and showing their support for the people of Iran. They use social media every day to show what is happening in their home country and eagerly follow developments. What happens in their home country may be something they and their parents have been waiting for for over 40 years. An Iran without clerical rule. – I will fight this battle here until the regime falls. It is the new generation that is facing what is happening in Iran now, so we are not going to give up, says Yar. Sapideh Sadeghi (43) Noshin Rad (31) and Lana Yar (27) outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo: Bård Nafstad / news Fighting to meet the family They grew up and live in Eastern Norway and come from different ethnic groups in Iran, now they stand together against the clergy in their home country. Namely, Lana is Kurdish, Sapideh is Baluchi and Noshin is Persian. Although the language and culture vary, everyone is united by one thing. The authoritarian rule must end. All three have lived large parts of their lives in Norway, but their commitment to what is happening in their home country is great. Stories from parents about what it was like under the clergy, and families they have not met make it extra important to use your voice, according to Rad. Like many exiles in Norway, they are actively against the authorities in the country. It could mean long prison sentences if they go back. – I cannot go back to Iran and meet my family as long as the regime is in power. Now that the Iranian people have the opportunity to overthrow this regime, I must get involved and support the people, she says. – The popular uprising in Iran today is experienced as a continuation of the struggle our parents led, adds Sadeghi. For Sapideh, Noshin and Lana in Oslo, what is happening in Iran feels extra close. – I never thought I would experience this revolution in my lifetime. – Families have been split up because of this brutal regime. – You go and hope that your country will one day be free. The girl who started it all On September 16, Kurdish Masha Amini dies in a hospital in the capital Tehran. Three days earlier, the 22-year-old was stopped on the street by Iran’s morality police. They thought she was wearing the hijab the wrong way. This led to large demonstrations across the country. With slogans such as “Woman, life, freedom”, the people demand an end to the clergy. Iran’s security forces have killed at least 448 people during the protests. Among them are 60 children under the age of 18 and 29 women, according to Iran Human Rights. 22-year-old Masha Amini has become the face of the demonstrations against the clergy in Iran. Photo: YASIN AKGUL / AFP – The biggest in over 40 years There have been large demonstrations in Iran in the past. But now the minority and the majority stand together. The last time it happened was in 1978 against the Shah in Iran. – So this is the first time in over 40 years that the Iranian population is so united, says Rad. The demonstrations have also put pressure on the regime. The country’s attorney general recently said that the morality police is being closed down, but the statement is met with scepticism. But the fact that they are now closing down the morality police may be an attempt to get the people off the streets, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam told news when the news became known. He is Leader of the human rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR). – What happened to Masha Amini was the final straw. People have had enough of an oppressive regime, he adds. Kurds, Persians and Baluchis demonstrate against the authorities in Iran outside the Storting. Photo: Privat – We are their voices For as long as the demonstrations have taken place in Iran, all three have fought the same battle from Norway. – The Iranian people cannot speak out to the world, so it is important that we are their voices, says Rad. That all three are now standing together, as they have done during demonstrations, shows the extent of what is happening in Iran, according to Rad. – What we are seeing now is a revolution, we will never go back to how it was three months ago, she says.
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– I will fight until the regime falls – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
