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- Zaghari-Ratcliffe: This is the generation of social media and TikTok and the Internet; they know more about the world and their rights than we did
- During her detention in Tehran鈥檚 Evin prison, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she met many women who had received long jail terms for protesting against Iran鈥檚 mandatory hijab rule
LONDON: Protests engulfing Iran have reached a point of 鈥渘o return鈥� as demonstrators demand wide reforms beyond the end of mandatory hijab rules, said British-Iranian charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who spent six years detained in Tehran.
She said the Islamic government鈥檚 crackdown on the popular revolt and shutdown of the Internet showed it was scared of losing control.
鈥淭he anger has been building up for many, many years,鈥� said Zaghari-Ratcliffe as demonstrations raged for a sixth week, triggered by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained for 鈥渋nappropriate attire.鈥�
鈥淲e can see a coming together for one single goal, and that is freedom. The protests are really, really powerful this time. I don鈥檛 think we鈥檝e ever seen the unity we鈥檙e seeing now,鈥� said Zaghari-Ratcliffe, describing Amini鈥檚 death as the 鈥渟park for an explosion.鈥�
The protests have grown into one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution even if they do not appear close to toppling a government that has deployed its powerful security apparatus to quell the unrest.
鈥淭here is a generational shift which plays a massive role in the new movement,鈥� said Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who works for the Thomson Reuters Foundation as a project manager, ahead of addressing the charity鈥檚 annual Trust Conference on Wednesday.
鈥淭his is the generation of social media and TikTok and the Internet. They know more about the world and their rights than we did. They have a lot more courage than we did.鈥�
The uprising has seen women tear off and burn their veils, with crowds calling for the downfall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Thousands have been detained by security forces and more than 250 killed including children, according to rights groups.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 43, was arrested at Tehran airport in 2016 after a trip to see her parents with her then 22-month-old daughter Gabriella.
She was separated from her daughter, whom she was still breastfeeding, and put in solitary confinement in a tiny windowless cell for nine months.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe was later convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. She denied the charge and the case was widely seen as political.
She was freed in March after Britain repaid a historic debt to Tehran.
During her detention in Tehran鈥檚 Evin prison, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she met many women who had received long jail terms for protesting against Iran鈥檚 mandatory hijab rule, including one 19-year-old sentenced to 24 years.
She said the current protests were a greater threat to the government than previous ones because they had attracted broader support, with labor unions now organizing strikes which could potentially paralyze the economy.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no return from here,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is not just about forced hijab any more. It鈥檚 also about the repressive rules they鈥檝e been imposing on people for a very, very long time. It鈥檚 about unemployment, it鈥檚 about lifestyle, it鈥檚 about freedom to have access to information and the Internet.鈥�
Iran has shut down the Internet and blocked access to platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp to stop people organizing protests and sharing images with the outside world.
鈥淪hutting down the Internet is exactly what they are doing when they put people in solitary (confinement), only on a bigger scale,鈥� said Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
鈥淭hey disconnect you from the outside world so the world doesn鈥檛 know what is happening to you and you can鈥檛 tell them. They want people to be scared and feel forgotten.鈥�
She told the conference the international community had the means to counter surveillance and censorship by the government and urged action to ensure Iranians could access a 鈥渇ree flow of information.鈥�
She also called for targeted sanctions on individuals, adding that Iran had learnt to live with general sanctions.
Earlier on Wednesday, the United States slapped sanctions on Iranian officials and entities involved in Internet censorhip and the crackdown.
They included those overseeing Evin prison, which holds political prisoners, and where Washington says many protesters have been sent.
Her voice breaking, Zaghari-Ratcliffe read out the names of friends still locked up in Evin and asked the conference to remember Amini on the 40th day after her death, a traditional time of mourning in Iran.
鈥�(Amini鈥檚) death sparked rays of hope for all of us ... in Iran, but also across the globe, that hopefully justice will prevail. Her name is a code for freedom,鈥� she said.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe told the Thomson Reuters Foundation the protests made her proud to be an Iranian woman.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame for those of us living in enforced exile that we cannot be with the women on the streets, but we are certainly very proud,鈥� she said.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe is settling back into London with her daughter and husband Richard, who ran a long campaign for her release including a three-week hunger strike while camped outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
But she said she could not feel entirely free while friends were still in jail.
鈥淔reedom is a very relative concept. I鈥檓 free in terms of coming out of prison and coming back home to my family in London. But I have left a part of me in Iran,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 be completely free until my country is free.鈥�