policies to try to boost the uk economy, despite the turmoil it s created in the markets. now on bbc news, it s hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. two weeks ago, 22 year old mahsa amini died in iranian police custody. she d been arrested for allowing strands of hair to escape her headscarf. since then, iran has been rocked by protests led by women demanding freedom and equality. it could be the most serious threat to iran s theocratic leadership since the islamic revolution. for my guest, it s a new phase in a long struggle. masih alinejad began an online movement demanding women s rights from exile. it s made her a regime target. is hers a struggle that can be won? masih alinejad in new york city, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. now, you have been campaigning for women s rights in iran, both from inside the country and from exile in the united states, for decades. have you been
for my guest, it s a new phase in a long struggle. masih alinejad began an online movement demanding women s rights from exile. it s made her a regime target. is hers a struggle that can be won? masih alinejad in new york city, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me. it s a pleasure to have you on the show. now, you have been campaigning for women s rights in iran, both from inside the country and from exile in the united states, for decades. have you been surprised by the speed and the scale of events in the last couple of weeks? to be honest, i knew the anger. i have been publishing the videos of iranian women, for eight years, practising their civil disobedience, many of them bravely filming themselves while telling the police, the morality police, it s none of your business. i don t want to cover my hair. most of them are the true leaders of the change within the society. they re leading a movement against compulsory hijab. so for me, now, the brutal death
for a vacation. mahsa came on her own. so that created a huge anger within the society, believe me. this is the time that the western media, western politicians, who keep asking me the same question and putting the blame on me, to understand that iranian women have agency. many of them ask me to be their voices. let me give you one example. shima was only 2a years old, one of the women who joined my campaign white wednesdays four years ago, and then she was interrogated, and she was told that, masih alinejad is using you. you know what she told to her interrogator? she said, i m using masih alinejad until the day that i have a voice inside my own country. not only her. iranian regime telling the mothers of the victims, mothers forjustice, that, hey, masih s living miles away from you, and now she s using you. she s telling you, cry forjustice.” you know
like ruhollah zam and many other journalists and activists, and ordinary people who are being killed in iraq. there is no difference between me and masih, hadis. so, i d rather be killed, but not kept silent. but stephen, you know. masih, masih, forgive me. there s one question i want to ask you before we end. you once said you had a dream of returning to iran and walking side by side with your own mother she in the hijab that she chooses to wear, you with your hair streaming in the wind, as you choose to have it. do you think that dream can ever come true? of course! i believe in these women powerfully saying no to the compulsory hijab and the islamic republic. so, i believe in that. i mean, i haven t hugged my mum for 13 years, but my dream is coming true. the dream of millions of people are coming true, the regime is going to,
billions of dollars. how come? i don t get this. hang on, well, surely, the world, and indeed, iranians, would benefit from a deal which ensures that the iranian nuclear programme is limited, and also, it ensures that some of the sanctions are lifted against the iranian people. look, let me finish. do you hear a single slogan against sanctions, or a single slogan that we want a nuclear deal? no, iranian people want to get rid of the regime. but the billions of dollars that the us government will give to the regime is going to the morality police. it s going to 51 religious institutions who promote sharia laws to kill more mahsa aminis inside iran. it s going to revolutionary guards. the iranian regime admits many times that, while we, the people of iran, were suffering from sanctions, they gave money to bashar assad, they gave money to hamas, to hezbollah. so, that is why i mean, forgive my anger, but believe me, if the us government, if the democratic countries do not get united to