{"id":1222915,"date":"2022-10-12T15:09:53","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/12\/if-you-talk-theyll-put-a-bullet-in-your-head\/"},"modified":"2022-10-12T15:09:53","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T15:09:53","slug":"if-you-talk-theyll-put-a-bullet-in-your-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/10\/12\/if-you-talk-theyll-put-a-bullet-in-your-head\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018If you talk, they\u2019ll put a bullet in your head\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Women at Penjwen\u2019s bus station were reluctant to speak about the protests in neighbouring Iran
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Soran raises two fingers to his left temple and motions firing a gun. \u201cIf you talk, they will put a bullet in your head,\u201d he tells me.<\/p>\n

Around us, the Iranian mountains reach skywards. We\u2019re at a bus station in Penjwen, a town in Iraq\u2019s northern Kurdistan region that is close to the crossing post on the border with Iran. Cars sporadically pull in and discharge their occupants into the dusty courtyard. <\/p>\n

Some pause and drink tea, while others climb straight into the small minibuses that\u2019ll take them to the nearby Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya.<\/p>\n

Soran uses his hands often when he talks. His feet too, as he kicks out to show me how he was beaten by Iranian security forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happened a few days ago when I was protesting,\u201d he says. \u201cThe regime beat me in the back, they kicked me and used truncheons to hit me. They shot my friend, and others too. All because I took part in the demonstrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soran is 32 and lives in Saqqez, the home city of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman whose death in police custody three weeks ago sparked anti-government protests that have engulfed Iran.<\/p>\n

Soran has crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan to work, but he questions whether he\u2019ll return home. The protests are growing, and life is hard. He says there hasn\u2019t been any internet for three weeks now due to restrictions imposed by the Iranian authorities, which have cracked down violently on the protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to be afraid of the regime, but now the wall of fear has collapsed. Nobody is frightened anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when I asked if this would lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic, his answer was clear: \u201cNo, the regime won\u2019t collapse. It can\u2019t be changed. They are strong and they keep killing people. We will never stop, and so they will keep killing us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, and it\u2019s corrupt. Nobody cares about us. The outside world says it supports Iran, but nobody does. We are being tortured and killed every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
People in Iraqi Kurdistan have shown solidarity with the protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a pack of wild dogs sleeps in the shade of a parked lorry, a new group forms at the minibus stop. Crouching in a low circle, they chat as they wait to leave. Most are Iraqi Kurds, but one is Iranian, and he describes his life to the others.<\/p>\n

Farhad is 36 and from Sanandaj, where there have been heavy protests and deadly clashes with security forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw reports that at least 32 civilians have been killed by government forces and 1,540 others injured in Kurdish-populated western Iran, but Farhad believes the death toll is far higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least 20 were killed last night,\u201d he tells the the group. \u201cSome say as many as 40. More than 70 were arrested. But we can\u2019t talk about it, because we\u2019ll be killed. Iranian intelligence are always watching, they secretly film. They imprisoned my brother in jail for political reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese protests are getting bigger, but they won\u2019t bring down the regime. No, it\u2019s strong. Controlling. The Islamic Republic will definitely survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Kurdistan under fire \u2014 With #IranProtests2022<\/a> entering their 4th week, all eyes have turned to the Kurdish city of Sanandaj (#\u0633\u0646\u0646\u062f\u062c<\/a>), in west Iran, with authorities launching a deadly crackdown on any sign of dissent. #\u0645\u0647\u0633\u0627_\u0627\u0645\u06cc\u0646\u06cc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/LgfWSziHKD<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Khosro Kalbasi Isfahani (@KhosroKalbasi) October 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Tuana is next in line for the bus. He\u2019s now based on the Iraqi side of the border but spent more than 20 years living in Iran. He still returns there three times a week to work.<\/p>\n

Wearing a crisp white shirt and sunglasses, he describes some of the changes he\u2019s seen in the last few weeks in western Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an increase in forces on the border. They don\u2019t look like the military \u2013 maybe militias?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m seeing more vehicles transporting more men. It looks like they\u2019re being brought from other parts of Iran into the Kurdish areas here. Helicopters too. We rarely saw them before, but now they\u2019re always up in the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuana also noticed a difference in the traffic at the Iranian border crossing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s drastically reduced. People are only really coming now for work, they\u2019re scared that if they leave they will be considered members of the opposition forces, or even a spy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIranians really need some outside support. But they\u2019re not getting that support.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are rumours spreading too of drastic consequences if people join the demonstrations, Tuana says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt spreads through conversations. My friends in Karaj [near Tehran] have been hearing these things. That the regime will empty the bank accounts of the participants. Or as winter nears, that their gas will be cut off and they\u2019ll be left freezing.\u201d<\/p>\n

An hour before sunset, there\u2019s just a small handful of people still arriving.<\/p>\n

\"Iranian
Iran\u2019s government says its security forces are confronting \u201crioters\u201d backed by the country\u2019s enemies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soroush is studying at Tehran University, and travelling over the border for a job related to his studies. His long beard is streaked with orange and silver, and tells me he speaks English as he collects the money from the other men in the queue to pay for the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students in Tehran are protesting, yes, and I am protesting. But 80% of people who live there are still happy with the regime, even though its men walk the streets with guns and kill people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJin, Jiyan, Azadi,\u201d Soroush smiles, punching the air. It\u2019s the slogan of the protesters and means \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom\u201d.<\/p>\n

It makes me acutely aware that, even though this is a female-led movement, I haven\u2019t managed to hear stories from a single woman at the border. They make up a much smaller percentage of travellers than men. And of the ones I spoke to, each one was warned off from speaking about the demonstrations by their travelling companions.<\/p>\n

One older woman greeted me warmly as she climbed from the taxi, and asked how my day had been. When I wondered aloud what her thoughts were on the situation at home, her son cut in sharply. \u201cDon\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

She picked up her overstuffed, white cotton bag, smiled, and silently walked away.<\/p>\n