BBCPERSIAN — broadcast
20260915 220000 UTC
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[00:00:00] Four years have passed since Mahsa Amini was killed in the custody of the morality police,
[00:00:04] and although the hijab law in Iran has not officially changed,
[00:00:07] these days some women appear with optional coverings in public places and
[00:00:10] even some official ceremonies. Has the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement ended,
[00:00:14] or does it continue to live in other forms?
[00:00:18] Paria Manzarzadeh has taken a look at
[00:00:22] the evolution of women's status in these
[00:00:25] four years.
[00:00:27] Four years ago,
[00:00:34] this image of two women without mandatory hijab in a cafe
[00:00:38] in southern Tehran was a media sensation.
[00:00:41] Donya was arrested for this photo.
[00:00:44] But other women also joined them.
[00:00:49] From familiar names
[00:00:50] in Iranian cinema to athletes
[00:00:54] and other women.
[00:00:57] The publication of Mahsa's family photos
[00:01:30] in the hospital and the widespread
[00:01:34] adoption of the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" just two days later.
[00:01:37] And this was the starting point
[00:01:40] of protests that were clear from the beginning to be different
[00:01:43] from previous protests. From the dust
[00:01:46] of its alleys,
[00:01:50] it should be
[00:01:51] an Mullah must
[00:01:55] be.
[00:01:57] And windows were opened to the world
[00:02:37] of teenagers and young people. Names that became hashtags.
[00:02:51] And the support
[00:02:52] of different sections
[00:02:56] of society for the protesters. We cannot
[00:03:00] and should not sit quietly
[00:03:03] and watch every day another
[00:03:07] Armita, another Mahsa,
[00:03:10] or another dear child of ours be sacrificed
[00:03:14] for not
[00:03:15] having a
[00:03:19] day. The support of the Sunni Friday Imam of Zahedan,
[00:03:23] along with the people of this city, who caused the Bloody Friday.
[00:03:26] Women's demands also reached the football field.
[00:03:30] In many big cities outside the country,
[00:03:33] rallies were held every week in support of Iranian protesters.
[00:03:37] A wave started on Instagram and Twitter where some women said that from tomorrow
[00:03:40] they would walk in the streets without a headscarf or scarf
[00:03:44] and asked men to please be supportive
[00:03:48] and not stare. Now, after four years,
[00:03:52] I really see that women in most places are present
[00:03:55] with the clothing they want. I am more convinced that rights
[00:03:59] must be taken and certainly every right has a cost.
[00:04:02] That the women of this period of Iranian history were able to overcome. How
[00:04:05] beautiful.
[00:04:07] Indeed, seeing your beautiful hair not only does not
[00:04:11] provoke us, but gives us a very good feeling. We hope for days
[00:04:15] when we will get used to seeing these
[00:04:18] scenes.
[00:04:21] In these four years, the Iranian government has tried in various ways
[00:04:24] to deal with women who appear in public
[00:04:28] without headscarves.
[00:04:34] From bringing back the morality patrols to the streets to seizing
[00:04:37] private cars, cash fines,
[00:04:41] threats of deprivation of administrative services, blocking SIM cards,
[00:04:44] and closing social media accounts. Well, the events that happened,
[00:04:48] and we were parents of 506.
[00:04:51] The closing and closing of society
[00:04:55] regarding the hijab, the fake delays they caused
[00:04:58] and put us under a lot of pressure. It caused that when this
[00:05:02] movement happened, we stood behind our children,
[00:05:06] even though many of us perhaps did not believe in veiling.
[00:05:09] Four years after the Mahsa movement, the face of cities, especially
[00:05:13] big cities, has changed.
[00:05:14] That young friend
[00:05:21] came. Came.
[00:05:24] Your state. Your state is white.
[00:05:27] Your hair is black. See.
[00:05:31] Surely the Mahsa movement was important, but not everything should be attributed
[00:05:35] to this movement. Regarding the hijab,
[00:05:38] a part of the government also disagreed with the morality police
[00:05:41] and harassing people about their clothing. This issue is also seen among
[00:05:45] Iran's military forces, who are mostly young
[00:05:49] and had no desire to harass women about their clothing.
[00:05:52] That is, it was not merely the people's demand,
[00:05:55] because if it were only the people's demand, there would be no inflation or the government
[00:05:59] would have fallen. After Mahsa's uprising,
[00:06:03] it seems that the hijab situation has improved, but no law for optional hijab
[00:06:07] has been approved. As a woman,
[00:06:10] I am still obliged to wear a headscarf in government offices,
[00:06:26] Iran has experienced two wars and witnessed the killing
[00:06:30] of protesters in December 2025.
[00:06:34] Under the shadow of restrictions and pressures resulting from social,
[00:06:37] political, and economic crises, Iranian women continue to pursue
[00:06:41] their demands. And of course,
[00:06:44] inequalities between women and men still
[00:06:47] persist. In terms of legal rights, there are also many
[00:06:50] challenges and obstacles for women. From divorce,
[00:06:53] custody, and inheritance laws to permission to leave the country
[00:06:57] and the right to ride a motorcycle.
[00:07:00] I believe that our
[00:07:03] approach has no choice but to change.
[00:07:07] Now, the government is resisting as much
[00:07:11] as it can. Well, the people are also resisting
[00:07:15] because the continuation of these
[00:07:17] laws, these policies, meaning much broader
[00:07:21] than laws, policies,
[00:07:25] programs, approaches
[00:07:28] and attitudes
[00:07:31] that the Islamic Republic has in various
[00:07:34] fields, including women's affairs,
[00:07:37] no longer works.
[00:07:39] I asked Hannah Neumann, a Member of the European Parliament
[00:07:43] from Germany, as someone who has followed the Iranian women's movement
[00:07:46] for years, how she assesses their current situation.
[00:07:49] The "Woman, Life, Freedom"
[00:07:55] movement in Iran, which began four
[00:07:58] years ago, began four years ago with the death of Mahsa Amini
[00:08:02] and transformed Iran because
[00:08:06] women, men, and the entire
[00:08:09] society stood against a repressive government.
[00:08:21] Despite all this, the Iranian government is still
[00:08:23] in power, and the information we receive from inside Iran
[00:08:27] is that despite the government's efforts to censor
[00:08:30] and cut off the internet, we see that repression has also
[00:08:34] increased. We see many
[00:08:37] people who have taken
[00:08:41] to the streets, not only in the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement,
[00:08:45] but also in the December protests. Some of them were imprisoned,
[00:08:48] some were executed. Now we see strict
[00:08:51] laws passed against women. We see that accusations
[00:08:55] of espionage and other excuses for repression
[00:08:58] by the government have made the rulers
[00:09:01] more ruthless,
[00:09:04] but young women are not powerless against this government.
[00:09:08] However, the government uses violence against them.
[00:09:11] What we saw in the December protests was the tip
[00:09:15] of the iceberg, but protests continue,
[00:09:18] and everyone outside the country talks about this
[00:09:21] issue and tries to shed light on this
[00:09:25] dictatorship and help the efforts of Iranian
[00:09:28] women and men
[00:09:29] for freedom.
[00:09:33] I also asked Ms. Neumann to explain how, in a situation
[00:09:37] where diplomatic relations are at their lowest level, they plan to follow up
[00:09:40] on cases of repression in Iran.
[00:10:12] We must speak about those who oppose the government,
[00:10:16] about those who want to shed light on the regime's dictatorship.
[00:10:19] Let's release images and documents
[00:10:22] about the regime's suppressions. We in the European Union,
[00:10:26] in the European Parliament, must talk about this issue.
[00:10:30] In the past, we have seen that when some
[00:10:32] cases are raised
[00:10:36] at a high level, and they gain momentum,
[00:10:40] it will sometimes cause the Iranian government
[00:10:43] to hesitate a little in executions and suppressions.
[00:10:47] This alone can provide more protection for those who fight
[00:10:50] this government. It is important that we continue
[00:10:54] this work. As I said, we should not limit ourselves
[00:10:57] to these actions. We must also adopt some political measures,
[00:11:01] including strict sanctions, to ensure that
[00:11:04] members of this regime cannot engage
[00:11:07] in cross-border suppressions. And we must
[00:11:10] also grant asylum visas to those
[00:11:14] who fight against this government. Therefore, all
[00:11:17] measures must go hand in hand.
[00:11:21] That was Hannah Neumann, the German representative to the European Parliament.
[00:11:25] But in Iran, according to reports,
[00:11:29] purchasing a basic set of stationery for each student in Iran
[00:11:32] costs up to 15 million Tomans. The head
[00:11:36] of the Stationery Union said that most stationery
[00:11:39] products have seen a price increase of about 50
[00:11:42] percent. Poverty and inequality have kept many students
[00:11:46] from education. Ferein Nasemi has more details.
[00:11:49] This year's Mehr
[00:11:52] month was difficult for many. School does not provide.
[00:11:56] Economic difficulties have caused some students to either
[00:12:00] drop out of school or attend school with difficulty
[00:12:03] and worry due to the high costs of stationery.
[00:12:07] This year's Mehr month smells of poverty
[00:12:10] for many. This year, the stationery
[00:12:14] market is not very vibrant. News agencies have estimated
[00:12:17] that stationery prices have increased several times
[00:12:21] compared to last year. This comparison
[00:12:25] of the cost of a shopping basket of stationery in Mehr
[00:12:28] 2025 with Mehr 2026. A normal backpack
[00:12:32] in Mehr 2025 was 1 million 200 thousand tomans.
[00:12:35] This year it's 3 million 800 thousand tomans.
[00:12:39] A medium pencil case was 300 thousand tomans last year,
[00:12:42] this year it's 500 thousand tomans. 8 notebooks
[00:12:45] with 100 pages each, which were 280 thousand tomans last year,
[00:12:49] are sold for 3 million 200 thousand tomans this year. 6 notebooks
[00:12:52] with 60 and 80 pages were 250 thousand tomans last year.
[00:13:14] Some media outlets have estimated the cost of stationery,
[00:13:17] shoes, and clothes to be around 15 to 17 million tomans.
[00:13:21] For some families who have enrolled
[00:13:24] their children in non-governmental schools, the tuition
[00:13:28] fee is also added. The tuition fees for some
[00:13:31] of these non-governmental schools are between 150
[00:13:34] and 170 million tomans. The cost of non-profit schools
[00:13:38] is several times this. Most stationery products
[00:13:41] have seen about a 50% growth, but depending on the type
[00:13:45] of goods and their dependence on some raw materials
[00:13:49] that have become expensive, this is more, between 50
[00:13:52] and 100, I can tell you.
[00:13:55] And the most significant growth in price has been in cellulose
[00:13:59] products like notebooks and paper, which have seen at least a 100% growth.
[00:14:02] There are some businesses that, because they are overcharging,
[00:14:06] don't provide invoices. The government has promised
[00:14:09] to control prices. A common pen was sold for 130 thousand
[00:14:12] tomans in one place and 50 thousand tomans in another. Why should there
[00:14:16] be an 80 thousand toman overcharge? Meanwhile, stationery sellers
[00:14:20] also say that the increase in raw material prices and the high cost
[00:14:23] of goods have put them in a difficult situation. On the other hand,
[00:14:27] the price of goods has risen to such an extent that some goods cannot be
[00:14:31] told to the customer. I mean, you really can't say this
[00:14:34] is the price of this item. But families bear
[00:14:38] the most pressure. I am a mother who went to buy
[00:14:41] stationery for my children. I have two children in school.
[00:14:44] Look, I bought stationery for my children.
[00:14:48] This is all it is. The stationery I bought
[00:14:52] cost 4 million 7 hundred and
[00:15:07] many are also forced to drop out of school.
[00:15:10] Last year, about one million Iranian students dropped out
[00:15:13] of school. Many of them have been forced to work
[00:15:17] at a young age. As prices increase, and more students
[00:15:20] face difficulties in continuing their
[00:15:24] education, the challenge of education in Iran
[00:15:27] becomes wider and deeper. Farin Asemi, BBC.
[00:15:30] Tahsin Mostafa, a dismissed
[00:15:33] teacher and former member of the board of directors
[00:15:37] of Iranian teachers' unions, is with us from Munich, Germany.
[00:15:41] Welcome, Mr. Mostafa. You yourself
[00:15:44] were a teacher. Do you have any personal
[00:15:47] experience of a student being forced to drop out
[00:15:51] of school due to poverty?
[00:15:54] Greetings and respect to you and your dear
[00:15:58] viewers. Yes, we have encountered
[00:16:01] many cases in the forefront of educational
[00:16:05] work. For example,
[00:16:11] female students for whom school uniforms were mandatory, and their families were unable
[00:16:14] to buy those uniforms, so these students dropped out of school.
[00:16:18] The news reached the school, and the school staff,
[00:16:21] teachers, and benefactors provided clothes for those students.
[00:16:25] But in many cases,
[00:16:27] these have remained hidden, and no one
[00:16:30] has been able to help. We later realized
[00:16:34] that many students were unable to pay
[00:16:37] tuition fees or buy school uniforms
[00:16:41] or bags, so they were prevented
[00:16:43] from coming to school. We have seen such
[00:16:47] cases in past years, not that inflation
[00:16:51] would be so rampant. In the 80s and 70s,
[00:16:54] we witnessed this repeatedly. Well, we know
[00:16:58] that poverty and high prices also affect
[00:17:02] the quality of education. What impact have you witnessed
[00:17:05] this issue having on the process of children's
[00:17:09] education?
[00:17:12] In education, we have a discussion where we say learning is a need,
[00:17:15] a self-actualized need, and before self-actualized
[00:17:19] needs, according to Maslow's hierarchy, we have a series of drives,
[00:17:22] and these drives are innate needs. Until those innate
[00:17:25] needs are met, an individual cannot reach self-actualized
[00:17:29] needs, and the prerequisite for learning is proper nutrition.
[00:17:32] The problem we have always faced in schools, and
[00:17:36] in recent years has turned into a tragedy,
[00:17:40] is the tragedy of student malnutrition. We have rarely
[00:17:43] not witnessed a student fainting in the schoolyard,
[00:17:46] and the cause of all these fainting spells
[00:17:50] and unconsciousness of students
[00:17:53] has been not eating breakfast and improper nutrition.
[00:17:56] We have always discussed in education that
[00:18:00] proper learning requires a specific amount of calories,
[00:18:04] and if this specific amount of calories is not met,
[00:18:08] the cycle of education in an individual remains incomplete,
[00:18:11] and we are seeing its consequences in society today.
[00:18:15] One reason that if you look for the cause
[00:18:19] of high prices and the social situation in Iran today,
[00:18:22] it is the effect of this educational system.
[00:18:26] When in our educational cycle,
[00:18:29] many individuals in society, the poor class of society,
[00:18:33] did not have access to basic facilities so that they could
[00:18:37] use education as a miracle.
[00:18:50] In the past few decades, we must look at the history
[00:18:54] of education. In the past few decades,
[00:18:57] we have witnessed this cycle of injustice
[00:19:01] in education, and unfortunately, today, in wartime
[00:19:04] and in today's inflationary conditions, it has become
[00:19:08] more pronounced. And we should not expect that this society
[00:19:11] that we are witnessing today
[00:19:15] will have no individuals from the poor and middle
[00:19:19] class present in its middle and decision-making levels
[00:19:22] in the coming years. As a result, those
[00:19:26] who are in the management level, excuse me,
[00:19:30] these issues that you raised, this inequality
[00:19:33] and these hardships that some children experience for this reason.
[00:19:40] The continuation of education and
[00:19:44] training should become less important,
[00:19:47] and children should be looking
[00:19:49] more for income generation
[00:19:53] than for education. Look,
[00:19:56] a student's dream does not reach a point where
[00:20:00] it's about income generation. The most important place
[00:20:04] where a student learns in school is among their friends
[00:20:07] and those noises that the teacher is quiet and students are talking to each other.
[00:20:11] Most learning happens in those noises,
[00:20:15] in students gathering
[00:20:15] in the corner of the yard.
[00:20:19] No, we should not forget
[00:20:22] that the conversations were about imagination
[00:20:26] and thinking about future careers and earning income.
[00:20:30] Today, it has given way to talking about
[00:20:33] hunger, and the student's dream of becoming
[00:20:37] a linguist, a teacher, a doctor, has given
[00:20:41] way to the student wishing and dreaming
[00:20:45] of a proper meal, one proper meal.
[00:20:48] In past years, in many schools, I personally witnessed
[00:20:52] students directly looking at me and saying,
[00:20:55] "Sir, we cannot listen to your
[00:20:59] lesson when our stomachs are grumbling. Let us go get a sangak."
[00:21:03] I have repeatedly witnessed these things myself,
[00:21:06] and I cannot forget a student who stood
[00:21:10] in the corner of the yard waiting for his brother
[00:21:13] and sister, whose school shift ended, to give him
[00:21:17] their pen and paper so he could come to school. That means the family
[00:21:20] was unable to provide even the minimum facilities for students.
[00:21:24] Now that inflation has reached this level,
[00:21:28] and we are witnessing a very strange phenomenon in Iran
[00:21:31] that we should not ignore its impact on learning.
[00:21:35] We are not witnessing absolute poverty in society today,
[00:21:38] we are witnessing severe poverty. Thank you, Mr. Mostafa,
[00:21:42] thank you very much for your presence. Tahsin Mostafa, dismissed teacher
[00:21:45] and former member of the board
[00:21:48] of directors of the trade unions of teachers in Iran.
[00:21:52] The US, UK, and Canada, in a joint
[00:21:55] cybersecurity alert, published details of spyware
[00:21:59] that, according to them, actors linked to the Iranian
[00:22:02] government use to target dissidents, activists, and journalists.
[00:22:06] The UK's National Cybersecurity Centre has announced that
[00:22:10] cyber actors linked to the Iranian government use a family of spyware
[00:22:13] called "Chosen Break" to steal emails,
[00:22:17] messages, and other sensitive information across
[00:22:50] it can be said that it is new, but overall, we still
[00:22:54] cannot say that this is, for example, an extremely
[00:22:57] sophisticated cyberattack with strange tools.
[00:23:01] They are still using the same old systems.
[00:23:05] But, for example, in terms of collecting information
[00:23:08] from their victims, what devices they use,
[00:23:12] where they are, what they do, what platforms they are on,
[00:23:16] well, that has naturally improved. The fact that they use
[00:23:20] some messaging apps, like Telegram,
[00:23:23] to communicate with the victim's device after it's infected.
[00:23:27] Besides what is mentioned in this report,
[00:23:30] I have also seen examples recently where such methods
[00:23:34] have been used. Overall, I want to tell
[00:23:37] you that in the past six months,
[00:23:40] we have witnessed a very widespread wave
[00:23:44] of attacks that we actually categorize as cross-border
[00:23:47] repression or transnational attacks. These attacks
[00:23:51] are cyberattacks that use artificial intelligence
[00:23:55] to spoof people's voices, try to gain trust,
[00:23:58] or actually manipulate the voices of two people
[00:24:02] who are communicating and send them to a third
[00:24:06] person to create conflict and arguments between people
[00:24:09] and groups. There have even been cases where people
[00:24:12] were tracked at their workplaces or wherever they were.
[00:24:15] We can say that in the past six months,
[00:24:18] the level of
[00:24:20] aggressiveness or the number of attacks they are carrying
[00:24:23] out, especially targeting individuals outside Iran,
[00:24:27] I can say, perhaps, has been unprecedented
[00:24:31] in recent years. This massive volume
[00:24:33] of attacks. How much
[00:24:37] artificial intelligence may be used
[00:24:41] in these operations? In this report,
[00:24:44] for example, it was mentioned that the voices of individuals
[00:24:47] were reconstructed,
[00:24:50] for example, two friends were talking, their voices
[00:24:54] were reconstructed and played for that audience
[00:24:57] outside the country. How much should we be concerned
[00:25:01] about artificial intelligence in this area?
[00:25:04] Reports that the cloud manufacturer also published in recent
[00:25:08] days are actually telling us the same thing. It is saying
[00:25:12] that artificial intelligence is being used. Artificial intelligence
[00:25:16] has not necessarily increased the cyber capabilities of the Islamic Republic.
[00:25:20] That is, if we want to compare it with the cyber
[00:25:23] capabilities of the US or Israel, or, for example, the UK,
[00:25:27] it has not been able to reach that level of power.
[00:25:30] But what it has been able to do is to make it so that
[00:25:34] resources need minimal effort to design
[00:25:38] and implement their attacks. It has increased
[00:25:41] the speed of their work. In these two areas,
[00:25:44] it has been able to provide a lot of help to the actors
[00:25:48] of the Islamic Republic to be able to launch more
[00:25:52] attacks with greater speed. But all this...
[00:25:55] Excuse me, I wanted to ask you another question, we have little
[00:25:59] time and many questions. If you could tell us very briefly
[00:26:02] how to protect themselves from these attacks,
[00:26:06] what should they do? I'll tell you very quickly.
[00:26:09] Absolutely do not rush to message people. In Persian, we say,
[00:26:13] "I trust so-and-so like my eyes." Don't trust your eyes.
[00:26:16] If you receive a message from anyone,
[00:26:20] if they send you a link, if they send you a file,
[00:26:23] especially if they keep saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, open it,"
[00:26:27] don't rush at all. Check with several different places.
[00:26:31] If you are suspicious, you can contact places
[00:26:34] like Digital Security. Do not rush at all.
[00:26:38] If you do these few simple things, be sure that
[00:26:42] you can protect yourself from a large part of these attacks. Thank you,
[00:26:45] Amir Rashidi,
[00:26:48] internet researcher.
[00:26:51] Thank you for watching this 60-minute program
[00:26:55] until the end. You can also watch our program
[00:26:58] on YouTube and BBC Podcast. 14 things that are proven
[00:27:20] to be effective in preventing memory loss, dementia,
[00:27:23] and Alzheimer's, and we can all
[00:27:26] do them. Apparently, doing a set of different
[00:27:30] activities, whether solving puzzles
[00:27:33] or learning a language or an instrument that keeps the brain active,
[00:27:37] is beneficial. We talk about the latest
[00:27:41] treatments for Alzheimer's and their effectiveness,
[00:27:44] and we ask experts if Alzheimer's is hereditary. 37 degrees on BBC Persian.
[00:30:20] Headlines. bin Salman's
[00:30:23] visit to Cairo in an effort to counter
[00:30:27] Yemen's Houthis. The Egyptian president
[00:30:30] emphasized free navigation in Bab al-Mandab.