“What else needs to happen before it becomes known that we are sending an SOS signal and we need your help?” That’s how she concluded – with tension in her voice – Nazi MataniAn Iranian activist who has been living and working in Greece for the past 5 years and is part of the organizers of the Iranian protests in Athens.

A day after our hour-long conversation, Mattani sent me an excerpt from “New Yorkp”, where the Stanford political scientist and expert on revolutions, Daniel Edelstein, said: “The protests unfolding in Iran may be the first time in history that women are the spark and driving force behind revolutionary efforts. The role that Iranian women are now playing seems unprecedented.”

“We are trying to make our voice heard. I’m not saying we haven’t done it – we’ve done it, we’re trying. But some media, when presenting the case, downplay it, saying that it is only how women dresswhen they focus it on hijab. What is happening in Iran right now is much more than a reaction to the hijab – we don’t just want reform, we don’t fight for it, we demand regime change,” she notes at the beginning of the interview, expressing her dismay how women are perceived, the events in Iran: “When the mainstream media presents such a public reaction, the international community perceives it as information.”

Nazi Mattani is a young woman speaking passionately about her country and the ongoing uprising. She has excellent English – she says that 2010 she left Iran disappointed, believing that despite her activism, nothing would change. Go to India where he studied and practiced journalism. Five years ago he came to Hellashaving met and married a Greek.

“I am not a second generation Iranian living abroad, I tested them from the inside, my family is in Iran, I never cut ties completely. Last year I visited the country for a month. I know what’s going on there, I’ve experienced it. I know what that means, I was a political activist, as was my family. I know exactly what kind of battle we are fighting and what we want,” he emphasizes, emphasizing that Iranians will gather at Syntagma Square on Saturday at 18:00 for demonstration purposes, something similar will happen in all parts of the world where there are Iranians. “We want our message to reach everyone, and especially the decision makers.”

The spark that lit the fire

Nazi Mattani wants to tell me the story from the very beginning, to understand the sequence of events – her death. 22 year old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the vice police on September 13 and died 3 days later in a coma, became the starting point of the current uprising.

Such cases, he notes, beatings as well as torture they happened in the past. “What is remarkable about Amini is that the 22-year-old girl had nothing to do with the capital – this was her first visit to Tehran, she was an innocent girl. Her brother begged the authorities to let her go, that they weren’t going to disturb anyone,” she says, and continues: “It was Kurdish nationalityWe have many nationalities in Iran.”

Mattani gives a historical narrative, noting that the Kurds have been subjected to severe oppression throughout the years “Islamic revolution”, as well as other ethnic groups in the Iranian periphery.

“When they learned that a girl from a Kurdish village had died, at first there was a noise there and in the surrounding cities. A bloodbath ensued in these cities.” He adds that it was the spark that Iranians across the country, already desperate and tired of oppression, poverty and discrimination, were waiting for.

“The government responded by saying that we didn’t kill Amini, we didn’t even touch her – she died of cardiac arrest due to an underlying illness suffered in childhood. This is a lie, many doctors claimed the opposite, ”he emphasizes.

The first episodes broke out in his suburb Kurdistanfrom Balochi and his Zahedan. A few days later, demonstrations took place throughout the country. Young women took off their hijabs, waved them in the air, burned them.

“Everyone went outside. The regime then sent military forces to quell the reaction, firing but not firing. What do I mean: at that moment oh President Raisi he was in New York, at the UN General Assembly, to say that we do not violate human rights, we did nothing in Amini. So what did the authorities do: beat the protesters with batons, even if it led to their death, claim that it was a suicide, that they fell from a building, or that it was death from comorbidities. That’s how they said that “we did not kill anyone.”

He notes that then he closed it Internetlike 3 years ago. “We, who are outside of Iran, are trying to become their voice and say what’s going on“.

We are united inside and outside of Iran

Mattani is optimistic as she sees strong militancy from a wide range of people: “We say that this is a revolution – this is the first time we have all come together, inside and outside of Iran, for the first time for the same reason. I am optimistic because I believe that this time the world will not back down, because I believe that if it backs down, then everything will become even worse, to the point that none of us can stand it … “

He estimates that more than 70% of the population wants regime change. “There are many Iranians abroad who think this is our last chance and we should help our people. And we use social media and hashtags. The hashtag Mahshi Amini has appeared over 200 million tweets. What I’m trying to say is that celebrities, activists, even beauty bloggers, people who have never had such fears, support the people of Iran.”

Is there a solution or just a dead end?

I ask her how she sees the end of this story – who will win and who will retreat?

“The topic is complex and big,” he says, noting that “there is no one alternative management offer abroad. And, apparently, there is no such thing inside Iran, because we are not even allowed to engage in activism, let alone an alternative government.”

“Today Western leaders know and are on our side,” he stresses, expressing his hope that the nuclear deal will stall and that the government will no longer be able to tolerate it due to sanctions and economic pressure.

“This is a huge amount of money spent on equipping the soldiers – they brought soldiers from Syria and Iraq, and they have to pay them, spend money on equipping them.” And he adds that the Iranians hope that if Western leaders take their side, the regime will be overthrown.

“We don’t want Western leaders to save us, we want them to stop saving our killers. We don’t want military intervention in our country, we don’t want them to bomb Iran. We just want them to stop working with the regime,” he comments and concludes:

“What else should the Iranian regime do to get a reaction? He is holding millions of people hostage – the West must sever economic ties with Iran. There is no legalization by the Iranian people, they invaded the country. If you see someone breaking into your neighbor’s house, won’t you react? Won’t you call the police, won’t you try to help? Why don’t you do the same now?