Iranian Kurds find a semblance of security in exile: 'At least we didn't bow down to injustice'
In northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, Iranians are seeking refuge from the repression of the Tehran regime.
Zana (pseudonym for security reasons), a 25-year-old Iranian Kurd, fled northwestern Iran in December 2022 to avoid being targeted by the Iranian secret services. He now lives in an empty room in a carpentry shop near the capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, Erbil.
His crime? Zana was driven to protest after the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested for a "poorly worn" headscarf and died while in custody in Tehran on September 16, 2022. Zana and his friends took to the streets shouting "Woman, life, freedom," which has become the rallying cry of the uprising that is sweeping the country.
The young man only kept a few pictures of his life in Iran on his cell phone. In one of the pictures, taken in late September, Zana is seen smiling while seated next to his best friend, Diako (also a pseudonym). Both are dressed in traditional Kurdish attire of baggy pants with belts and neat hair. In the photo, Zana holds two crutches in his left hand. "This was taken at my cousin's wedding ceremony," Zana said, while seated on a worn carpet. "Sadly, just an hour after this picture was taken, the secret service arrived at my house to arrest me."
When agents searched Zana's home, they discovered bandages and medication. "They believed I had taken part in protests and been injured," recalled the young man, who appeared weak. The previous day at a rally, Zana was struck in the right leg by a tear gas capsule fired at close range. Upon his mother's request, a neighbor warned him of the danger, and he sought refuge in an Iranian village near the autonomous Kurdistan border to receive medical treatment for his wound. After 45 days, he traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan on foot with the assistance of smugglers, and Diako, also a target of the Iranian intelligence services, joined him three weeks later.
Blows and psychological pressure
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The fate of young Iranians like Zana and Diako, as well as others who Le Monde interviewed, highlights the harsh repression by the Islamic Republic against its opponents, particularly in the Kurdish regions.
To date, at least 488 civilians have died in connection with the protests, with four protesters hanged and a dozen others facing the same fate. Although the streets are now calm, the Iranian judiciary, fearing a resurgence of protests, is imposing harsher sentences on demonstrators. The number of Iranians seeking refuge in the autonomous Kurdistan region, where they can obtain a residence permit relatively easily, is difficult to determine.
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