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“The Islamic Republic doesn’t need a vice squad to oppress women,” says Iranian journalist Gilda Sahebi about the Iranian government’s surprising announcement that it would disband the vice squad.
It was a report that many now say is a farce, a red herring. “The report is not correct. It’s all disinformation,” says Gilda Sahebi in the 419th episode “important today”. The vice police have existed since 2005 and arrested the Kurdish woman Mahsa Jina Amini in mid-September. Her death sparked protests in Iran that have now lasted two months. The morality police – according to Gilda Sahebi, these are “men and women who drive back and forth across the country in their vans, abusing women, kidnapping them and taking them to re-education centers if they are not dressed the way they want them to be”. Dissolving this institution is an impossibility for the Iranian regime, because it involves thousands of men and women who would then be on the streets. Only in her opinion there is no need for a vice squad to oppress women. “The Islamic Republic did that successfully before 2005,” says Gilda Sahebi.
“Iranians are not used to the world watching”
Gilda Sahebi is a journalist, she was born in Iran herself and she tries to classify and understand what she hears from the local people. “Every family has its own history with this country, with this regime – and of course I have that too.” And at the same time, she tries to report on Iran as best she can and as accurately as possible. “Because independent journalism doesn’t exist there.” What she reads above all are messages full of anger, full of determination, but also full of happiness, says Gilda Sahebi in the podcast. Because Iranians finally have the feeling of being seen. “And they’re not used to the world watching what’s happening.”
Journalist Sahebi demands further measures from Germany
For Gilda Sahebi, the fact that the UN Human Rights Council recently passed a resolution to investigate the violence in Iran is above all an international signal that the world is looking at the country – albeit without consequence, because the Iranian regime has already announced that not wanting to cooperate with the UN. In her opinion, further measures and sanctions are needed. The journalist sees Germany as having a duty. “Germany has such an influence and nothing happens,” says Gilda Sahebi.
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From conversations with politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the journalist takes away that, in her opinion, people still do not really want to believe that what is happening in Iran is a real revolution. You want to wait. “It’s only when you don’t do anything that it’s like you’re on their side.” It’s not at all about the sanctions necessarily leading to the fall of this regime, says Gilda Sahebi. “But Germany can do something to stop supporting this regime.”
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Source: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
