The Italian magazine “Vanity Fair Italia” published an interview with Azar Karimi, spokesperson for the Iranian Youth Association in Italy, in its issue dated 14 February 2026. The interview, conducted by Monica Coviello, focuses on recent developments in Iran and the role of women in the nationwide protests.
The full English translation of this interview is presented below.
Iranian women’s courage against violent repression: “They stand in front of cannons, block roads and refuse to retreat. But they pay the highest price”
Since December 28, 2025, Iran has been experiencing a new wave of widespread protests, which broke out against the backdrop of a serious economic crisis and quickly spread to hundreds of cities. The response of the authorities was a fierce large-scale repression. On the orders of Ali Khamenei, the security forces opened fire: the snipers targeted the heads, hearts and eyes of the protesters. From rooftops and bridges they fired volleys at unarmed civilians, young and old, hitting indiscriminately. According to the Resistance network inside the country, 2,270 victims have been confirmed since January, including 250 women and 170 children between 13 and 18 years old, but the real number would be much higher. Over 50,000 people were arrested and more than 330,000 injured.
Iranian women are playing a central and courageous role, standing side by side with men and often on the front lines. Young and old, mothers and daughters, from 13 to 66 years old, women from every region and from all walks of life participate in the protests. Some even brought their young children with them.
We talked about it with Azar Karimi, spokesperson for the Iranian Youth Association in Italy.
Women are at the forefront of the protests. What role are they really playing?
“They chanted slogans such as ‘Death to Khamenei’, ‘Death to the dictator’ and ‘This is the year of sacrifice to overthrow Khamenei. They repeatedly confronted and repelled the Revolutionary Guard and other repressive forces. They lined up in front of the water cannons, blocked the roads and refused to back down. For this courage, many have paid the highest price.”
How does the repression against those who take to the streets translate into practice?
“The heroic uprising of Iranian women and men was met with extreme brutality. Protesters are massacred and women suffer double repression. On the one hand, they are persecuted as part of the protest movement, on one hand, they are harassed as part of the protest movement, on the other, they are targeted as women challenging a system built on their legal and social subjugation. The theocratic regime bases its ideological legitimacy on the control of the female body and role. For this reason, the active participation of women in the uprising is perceived as a direct threat to the architecture of power. Arrests, physical violence, sexual intimidation and serious religious charges are used to break their will.”
Why have women become the symbol of this uprising?
“Because their rebellion calls into question the ideological foundation of the regime. In a misogynistic theocracy, female leadership and participation represent a cultural revolution even before a political one. The National Council of Resistance of Iran has placed gender equality at the center of its Ten-Point Plan, presented by its president Maryam Rajavi: equality in all fields, abolition of discriminatory laws, freedom of choice on clothing, full political participation. The presence of a woman as president-elect for the transition is not symbolic, but programmatic: it shows that a concrete and organized alternative exists.”
What tools does the regime use to specifically target women?
“Arbitrary arrests and detention in solitary confinement, summary trials without legal guarantees, accusations of ‘mohareb‘, i.e. waging war against God, physical and psychological violence, pressure on families, selective and punitive application of the laws on the veil and morality”.
What does the accusation of “mohareb“, enemy of God, concretely entail?
“It is a particularly serious accusation. It serves to turn political dissent into a religious crime and is one of the heaviest charges in the regime’s legal system: it can lead to capital punishment. It is a political instrument disguised as divine justice. The increase in executions, 327 since the beginning of the year, shows that the regime uses the death penalty to instill fear and prevent new waves of protest.”
What do we know today about the fate of the prisoners arrested during the protests?
“Information is fragmented due to the Internet blackout, but Resistance units confirm thousands of female arrests. Many detainees are held in inhumane conditions, without access to lawyers or family members. In general, many patients hospitalized with gunshot wounds have disappeared after being dragged away by security forces. Sources in Iran have also revealed that doctors involved in treating injured protesters have been arrested. According to witnesses, the bodies of those killed were thrown into mass graves or thrown from moving vehicles. Others would have been burned with fire and acid, so that no trace remains for the families”.
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How does the regime also exert pressure on the families of the victims?
“Families are summoned by the security services and threatened with arrest or retaliation at work. In many cases they are forced to have controlled funerals. The regime fears funeral ceremonies because in Iran they often turn into political demonstrations, and for this reason it tries to limit or control them. However, collective mourning continues in new forms, with messages spread clandestinely and sudden gatherings. More than 5,000 euros are demanded in exchange for the delivery of the bodies and in many cases, the poorest families do not have the opportunity to pay. This strategy aims to break social solidarity but often has the opposite effect. The economic situation has deteriorated significantly compared to before the uprising of 28 December and the outlook remains bleak. By now, almost every family in Iran has been directly affected, having lost a relative, friend or colleague killed, injured or missing during the protests.”
What role are the mothers and sisters of those killed or disappeared playing?
“Many have become moral symbols of the uprising. Despite threats and pressure, they denounce publicly, participate in clandestine commemorations and keep the memory of their loved ones alive. Maryam Rajavi called these women “the living conscience of the nation”, because they turn pain into resistance and prevent the regime from erasing its victims.”
How are the Iranians managing to let the world know what is happening despite censorship and control of information?
“Even though the regime has imposed internet blackouts and digital restrictions to block the spread of information, resistance units and the Iranian diaspora continue to surface news, names of victims, images and direct testimonies. For us it is essential that these names and faces are published. Mrs.Maryam Rajavi stressed that the information battle is an integral part of the resistance. Although the regime invests enormous resources in propaganda and disinformation, it has not been able to prevent the truth from emerging. Every confirmed name and every face published represents a defeat for censorship (here is the list of women who have lost their lives, with their photographs)”.
Despite the repression, the protest continues. Where do they find the strength to go on?
“ It stems from the total absence of prospects inside the regime: economic collapse, inflation, systemic corruption, political repression. But it also arises from the existence of an organized alternative with a concrete plan for the transition. Mrs. Rajavi stated that when people lose fear, no dictatorship can survive for long. The regime’s killings and crimes are not a sign of strength, but of weakness of a bloody dictatorship whose days are numbered. Despite thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of arrests, the uprising has not been suppressed and continues in the form of “hit and run”. The uprising is going through ups and downs, but it continues.”
Does fear or hope for real change prevail today?
“The fear is real, but it has not extinguished the desire for change. The cyclical uprisings of recent years show that Iranian society no longer accepts the status quo. Conditions will never return to those prior to December 28. The Iranian people have made it clear: they will accept nothing less than the overthrow of the regime and the establishment of a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state. There is a clear red line against any form of dictatorship, both the current clerical regime and the monarchical system associated with the Pahlavi family.
The future Iran will be a democratic republic, following the path of Mohammad Mossadegh. The Constitution will be drafted by a Constituent Assembly elected within six months of the overthrow of the regime. As Mrs. Maryam Rajavi says: “The question is no longer whether the regime will fall, but when. History shows that dictatorships can seem invincible until the day they collapse. In Iran, that day is approaching.”
