![]() ![]() PARNIAN: The company I work for has been in financial trouble for over eight months and cannot pay the employees’ salaries. We ended up buying a small box of sugar candies from a cheaper place. Boy, how expensive everything is! My mom wanted to buy pistachios and roasted nuts, but it cost over 1.2 million tomans, more than three times the price they were last year. KIMIA: We went to the market to do some shopping for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Nobody talks about it, but we’re afraid to explore new areas. People meet near their workplaces, homes or schools. Now, in the absence of the morality police, there is more freedom, but also more anxiety. Back when the morality police were active, almost every time we met with friends, one of the boys went ahead, scoped out the situation and told us which way to go in order to avoid the forces. We have gotten used to shrinking our comfort zones. How scared were they? Did they scream a lot?įor years we have grown accustomed to the fact that anyone, anywhere can be unsafe. I thanked my colleague for letting me know and hung up. Official reports did not mention injuries. That morning, the metro on the Tajrish line, my main daily commute, had stopped at a station for a while because of a technical issue, and then one of the carriages caught fire. Today one of my colleagues called, sounding nervous. PARNIAN: On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I work from home. I was really convinced that the regime would be toppled this time, but when I saw the brutal crackdowns and all the killings, I realized this wasn’t it, either. We have seen this cycle before: We get our hopes up and think that this time will be different, that change is coming, that we will win, and then nothing happens. The Islamic Republic will be gone one day, but I’m not sure it’ll happen this time around. I’m much less hopeful than I was at the beginning of this movement. My friend told me that he had been fed up with living in limbo - he had not been put on trial or formally charged. This morning, I learned that he tried to kill himself. KIMIA: My friend’s brother was arrested during the protests in a city in Kurdistan and has been imprisoned for several months. Ever since the start of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution, there has been so much pain that feeling good seems bizarre. We were all stunned, but nobody said anything to her. In response, the woman said that was not true and that certain people are trying to promote secularism and prostitution in society. One of the salon’s stylists jokingly told her that people don’t buy scarves anymore, that it is no longer profitable and that she should change her job. A woman came in with head scarves and shawls for sale. GHAZAL: Something very strange and interesting happened at the hair salon today. I have to use multiple VPNs, and they disconnect several times. Pretty much every application you want to use in Iran is blocked, and to get around the restrictions, we use virtual private networks. I can’t even download a movie or check social media properly with our stupid slow internet. Now I can afford to go only once or twice a month. I used to enjoy going to cafes once a week, but it has become so expensive. KIMIA, a 23-year-old graduate student who lives in Kurdistan Province: I thought I would have fun after my master’s entrance exam, but now there is nothing to do. Like many Iranians, they are trying to figure out what their lives should look like as they continue to fight for, and dream of, change. ![]() Their entries have been edited for length and clarity, and their last names are being withheld for their safety. To better understand how daily life in Iran has transformed, we asked three young women to keep a diary for five weeks. At night, Iranians chant antigovernment slogans from their rooftops. Women and girls appear in public without the hijab. To this day, acts of civil disobedience continue. Authorities have also dismantled the morality police and are trying new methods to enforce the dress code. Marches, led by women, spread across the country from September to January, and the government has cracked down violently. The protest movement - known as Woman, Life, Freedom - quickly morphed into broader demands for an end to the Islamic Republic’s rule. ![]() She had been arrested on accusations of violating mandatory-hijab rules, and a gruesome photo and video of her unconscious in a hospital bed went viral, sparking outrage and grief. I pray that our love for each other continues to grow deeper and deeper every day.The uprising began in September, after a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of Iran’s morality police. I am so blessed and grateful for my life and for today, call out his name and reveal yourself to him. I am so undeserving, yet you pursue me daily! Thank you for your grace and for your perfect provision. ![]() Thank you for your unconditional love for me. ![]()
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