An “unprecedented” move. Interviewed by France Inter, Emmanuel Macron returned to the demonstrations that have been taking place in Iran for several weeks following the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, arrested three days earlier by the morality police for violating the dress code of the Islamic Republic. .
For Emmanuel Macron, “what’s wrong” with this movement is “this desire to recognize first the place of women and equality between women and men.” “The most impressive thing,” he says, “is that they are young women, young men who have only lived under this regime” of the Islamic Republic, which emerged in 1979.
Emmanuel Macron also sees in these demonstrations a rebuff to “many prefabricated ideas”, those according to which “the values we defend were good only for the West, that women, basically, were happy to live in this situation of obscurantism, of oppression” . “It is the opposite of what this generation demonstrates” of young women, he greeted.
The president received four Iranian women at the Élysée on Friday to express “our admiration, our respect and our support.”
“The fight they lead is a fight that for us takes on a very special meaning, it is that of the values that are our motto, of a universalism of freedoms in which we believe and they carry it with exceptional courage, that is, at the cost of their lives,” he said.
“Strong diplomatic reaction”
Since the start of the protests, the demonstrators have faced harsh repression by the authorities. According to figures from the Iranian Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO), at least 326 people have been killed since the start of the conflict, including 43 children. This Sunday, the repression escalated: a court in Tehran sentenced to death, for the first time, an accused person having participated in “the riots” that shook the countryannounced the judicial authority agency Mizan online.
Emphasizing “a level of violence, repression, that is unprecedented”, Emmanuel Macron calls for a “strong diplomatic reaction” from the international community and the establishment of “mechanisms that first allow those who commit these crimes and these repressions to be prosecuted”. . .
“The great difficulty in these cases is to be sure that the sanctions are effective, that they do not weigh on the populations. And be sure that you sanction the right people, that is, those who are in the heart. of the system”, explained the Head of State.
Emmanuel Macron also returned to his meeting with Ebrahim Raïssi, the Iranian president, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York. The interview, which took place four days after Mahsa Amini’s death, shocked many Iranians.
“Freedom to believe and not believe”
The Head of State recognized in the first place “the emotion, the dissent and the revolt” that this can cause, especially when “we ourselves have been threatened, which we continue to be”. He later defended his decision: “From where I am, the most useful thing is to do diplomatic work, to talk to people with whom we do not agree.” For him, it’s about “bridging these gaps and doing useful work.”
Finally, Emmanuel Macron addressed the repercussions of these events in France, speaking in particular on the issue of the veil. “In France […]We preserve that freedom to believe and not believe,” the president first stated. To then emphasize that “there are also places, times, situations where for a young woman it is not a freedom.”
“They have pressure from relatives and relatives, that is what we have to fight,” urged Emmanuel Macron, and explained that “we have to fight through” education, emancipation, culture, knowledge.
The Head of State drew a parallel with women in Iran. The latter’s message according to him: “We lie to you on our behalf, do not believe that this veil, we wear it with joy. We want to get rid of it or, in any case, have the possibility of choosing.”
Source: BFM TV
