“We don’t want the Islamic Republic of Iran. We just want Iran back.” Iran’s morality police once shoved Elnaaz Norouzi into a van for wearing the wrong kind of trousers. Based in Mumbai now, Norouzi said why living in Iran can be very scary for women.
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00:00And I was taken to the re-education center where they took Mahsa as well.
00:06They take you for the weirdest reasons, okay?
00:09Your nail color, your hijab, your clothing, anything.
00:15Hey everyone, this video is about Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian girl
00:20who was beaten to death last week by the Iranian morality police
00:26because her hijab wasn't proper.
00:31This video is about her, but not only and only about her.
00:38It's about what Iran is going through for over years and years and years.
00:43It's about how the women in Iran are oppressed.
00:47It's about what is actually going on with their lives, how people are dying every day.
00:54I wanted to share a personal story with you all.
00:57It's not to take away from what's been happening to Mahsa or in Iran,
01:03but to make it a little bit more personal and make you understand
01:07that what happened to Mahsa could have happened to Elnaz.
01:11A few years back, and this is a story I've never shared before,
01:14a few years back I was in Iran.
01:16It was the last day in Tehran.
01:19I went to the travel agency and I had to change my flight.
01:23I was on the road with my cousin when a woman suddenly came in front of me,
01:28like literally this close.
01:30She was dressed all in black, and the Iranians know how they look.
01:34And she just asked me, I remember exactly everything that happened.
01:37She asked me, what is this?
01:40And I really didn't know what she's talking about.
01:43And she repeated, what is this?
01:45And I didn't know, and I asked her, I said, what do you mean, ma'am?
01:50And she basically, I was taken by the morality police,
01:57gashteh ershad, how we call them,
01:59because my pants weren't wide enough.
02:05They were tight, so you could see my ankle.
02:08Even though my manto, which is that thing which you have to wear,
02:12which has to cover your bum and cover everything basically,
02:15it was as long, it was so long, it was covering my ankle,
02:19but my pants were not wide.
02:21They were tight.
02:23Because of that, I was taken in a van.
02:27In the same van that Mahsa was in, I was taken in,
02:31and I was taken to the re-education center,
02:35where they took Mahsa as well,
02:38until someone comes and picks me up with the right clothing.
02:43Now, my cousin was freaking out.
02:45My family was freaking out.
02:47When I reached there, they took my passport, and they took my phone.
02:53I had my German phone number, and I had my Iranian phone on me,
02:57so I just gave them my German phone.
02:59I had my Iranian phone number, my Iranian SIM card on me,
03:02so I could stay in touch with my family.
03:04But the way they scare you, the things they do with you,
03:09this is not the way anyone should live in Iran.
03:13You shouldn't be thinking about...
03:15And they take you for the weirdest reasons, okay?
03:18Your nail color, your hijab, your clothing, anything.
03:24If they just feel like taking you, they will take you,
03:27and there is no one who can stop them.
03:29I don't want my people to live like this.
03:31I don't want any woman to live like this.
03:34No woman deserves this.
03:36Everyone should be free to do, say, wear whatever they want to.
03:41And this small story was just so you understand
03:45that what happened to Mahsa could have happened to me,
03:49and it can happen to any woman in Iran.
03:52And what we just need right now is help.
03:55We need everyone to spread the word.
03:57We need the world to see what these oppressors are doing with our women,
04:02with our people, and that we're just fed up of them,
04:05and we don't want them anymore.
04:07We don't want another Mahsa.
04:09We don't want... We just don't want them anymore.
04:12That's all.
04:13We don't want the Islamic Republic off Iran.
04:17We just want Iran back.
04:35For more UN videos visit www.un.org