- For young voters in Iran, memories of the 2022 struggle against the rulers have shaped the upcoming presidential race.
- All six candidates have targeted young voters through social media, recognizing their role in Iran’s political future.
- The memory of the 2022 protests will continue to influence Iranian youth, and shape their attitudes toward governance and political participation.
ATOOSA participated in angry protests against the Rulers of Iran Loyalists like Reza helped crush it in 2022. Even two years later, the political views of the two young Iranians remain far apart, reflecting a rift that will shape the outcome of this week’s presidential elections.
Atousa, now 22, said she would abstain from voting in Friday’s vote to choose a successor to Ebrahim Raisi following his death in a helicopter crash, and would treat the process with derision.
But Reza, 26, a religiously devout member of the hardline Basij militia, intends to vote, holding a contrasting view on the importance of the election that underscores the divisions in Iran between supporters and opponents of the 45-year-old Islamic republic.
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All six candidates – five hardliners and a low-key moderate approved by a radicalism watchdog – are courting young voters through speeches and campaign messages, and using social media to reach 60% of the 85 million population under the age of 30.
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police”, in Tehran, Iran, September 21, 2022. (West Asia News Agency)
“This election, like all elections in Iran, is a circus. Why should I vote when all I want is the overthrow of the regime?” Atousa told Reuters, declining to give her full name for security reasons.
“Even if it is a free and fair election and all candidates can participate in the election, the president still has no power in Iran,” he said.
The hashtag #ElectionCircus has been widely posted by Iranians on social media platforms over the past few weeks, while some Iranians at home and abroad have called for people to vote in the elections. Election Disfellowship.
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Under Iran’s clerical system, the elected president runs the day-to-day government but his powers are limited by those of hardline Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on top issues such as nuclear and foreign policy.
‘Voting is a religious duty’
Like many women and young Iranians, Atousa joined protests in 2022 against the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory Islamic dress code.
The unrest became the largest display of opposition to Iran’s religious rulers in years.
Atossa, a student at the time, was arrested during the protests and her dream of becoming an architect was shattered when she was expelled from university as punishment for participating in the protests.
The Basij, a plainclothes branch of the elite Revolutionary Guard, was deployed alongside uniformed security during the 2022 unrest and helped suppress demonstrations with deadly force.
Rights groups said more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested in the protests, which were eventually crushed by security forces.
Iran executed seven people linked to the unrest. Authorities have not officially estimated the death toll but have said dozens of security forces were killed in the “riots”.
A pro-government woman holds an Iranian flag during a rally against recent protests in Iran, after Friday prayers ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on September 23, 2022. (Majid Asgaripour/West Asia News Agency)
“I will sacrifice my life for the leader and the Islamic republic. Voting is my religious duty. My participation will strengthen the nezam (system),” said Reza, from the low-income Naji Abad district in south Tehran.
Reza said he would support a hardline candidate who supports Khamenei’s “resistance economy,” which means economic self-sufficiency, strengthening trade ties with regional neighbors and improving economic connectivity with China and Russia.
The economy suffers from mismanagement, state corruption and sanctions that have been reimposed since 2018, when the United States broke Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers.
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Reza and Atossa were both born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and they regret the 2022 protests, albeit for different reasons.
Reza attributed these protests to increasing pressure on Iran from Western countries, which have imposed sanctions on Iran. security forces and accused officials of violating human rights. Iran accused Western powers of promoting unrest.
He said, “I wish these protests had not happened…our enemies used it to put pressure on our country.”
Atosa recalls that period with sadness.
“I had hope,” she said. “I thought eventually change would come and I would be able to live in a free country without oppression… I paid a heavy price, but the regime is still here.”
