Iranian journalist and exiled politician Taghi Rahmani is now known as the “husband” of 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner activist Narges Mohammadi, who is in Evin prison. Rahmani, exiled in Paris since 2012 where he lives with his two twin children Ali and Kiana, presented the book in Madrid. white torture (Alianza editorial), which collects testimonies from Narges Mohammadi and dozens of other women who suffered repression under the Ayatollah’s regime. Speaking to the media, Rahmani recalls that Narges Mohammadi is currently serving a ten-year sentence and five new cases have been opened for his criticism of the Tehran regime. While in prison, he continues his tireless fight, and his fragile health does not prevent him from going on hunger strike or spreading protest messages that soon go viral. Despite the success of the women’s movement. Life. Freedom, Iran continues its repression and is now “using the war in Gaza to consolidate a dictatorship,” according to Taghi Rahmani. “He is using what is happening in the region to prevent democracy from being established in Iran,” Rahmani adds.

“At first they said that Iran would participate in the war, but when the US came to the area, Iran shelved this strategy. He is using the war to present himself as the protector of the citizens of Gaza, but Khamenei will never go to direct war with the West,” husband Narges Mohammadi said at an event at the Madrid Press Association organized by Alfonso Baulus, president of Reporters Without Borders ( RSF).

On December 10 in Oslo, Taghi Rahmani and his teenage children Ali and Kiana will receive the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Narges Mohammadi. They believe that she will send them a message through third parties. She is now banned from communicating by phone, but her husband, who also spent eight years in Iranian prisons before going into exile, has not spoken directly to Narges for 22 months.

Our case, forced to live in different countries for more than ten years, is an example of how dictatorship affects the personal lives of Iranians.

Taghi Rahmani is an Iranian journalist and politician living in Paris.

“It’s true that we haven’t been together for many years. I left Iran more than ten years ago. It was something forced. When I went to ask for Narges’s hand in marriage [ingeniera de profesión con estudios de Físicas], his mother expressed her rejection to me. Since he was a politician, he told me that he was going to ruin Narges’ life. But we still love each other. Our case is an example of how dictatorship affects the personal lives of Iranians,” Rahmani says in Farsi. The translator emotionally recalls how Narges told her children: “I hope you forgive me because I was not a good mother. , but what I do is for the benefit of thousands of children.”

Ali and Kiana, who initially stayed in Iran with their mother but then fled the country, will read out their Nobel speech. “There will most likely be clear condemnation of dictatorship, gender discrimination and other discrimination. I also think it would hint at how he trusts the West to act more effectively to get Iran to stop repressing the people, as seen in White torture” says Rahmani.

Victim of “white torture”

As historian Shannon Woodcook notes in the book, “White torture deprives prisoners of all sensory stimulation for long periods of time and is used, along with solitary confinement and interrogation, on political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.” Often people suffer from this even if they have not received a sentence. Call white torture, which is used by locking prisoners in minimal spaces where they lose consciousness of time and are kept with the lights on at all times and without contact with anyone “except their executioner,” Rahmani says. This causes a lot of anxiety and many end up signing whatever is offered to them to get out of this hell.

In her work, Narges Mohammadi recalls her first experience in 2001, when she was arrested after protesting against the illegal actions of the Revolutionary Guards and the judiciary in arrests like that of her husband. He reported this case to the press, and the regime did not like it.

“It was the first time I was locked in a cell. What a strange place! A tiny box without windows or connection with the outside world. A very small skylight in the ceiling allowed us to see the sky. But it was at a very high altitude… Very high, inside a hole in the wall, there was a 100-watt light bulb that never went out,” recalls Mohammadi, who eventually asks the question: “Is it possible to treat a person? So?”

The regime considers “white torture” effective. It keeps you in sensory isolation until you can sign something.”

Taghi Rahmani

Her second experience, in 2010, was more difficult because she was already a mother. His twins were three and a half years old. She has to leave them when she is arrested, and not knowing about them multiplies the pain of the arrest. She has already been contacted by the Center for Human Rights Defenders. They wanted him to link the center with the Western powers or collaborate with the regime. His executioners referred to the situation of his motherless children to increase their suffering.

” white torture This is a form of repression that applies to all types of dissidents. The regime considers this more effective. They keep you in sensory isolation until you can sign something. “It’s not history, it’s still happening,” Rahmani says, proud of his wife’s steadfastness against all the pressure.

Narges Mohammadi suffers from breathing and heart problems. A couple of weeks ago, Amnesty International contacted Iranian authorities to express concern about the health of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was being denied adequate medical care. The 51-year-old activist confirmed that she is ready to sacrifice her life to defend freedom and equality in Iran.

“The Voice of the Iranian People”

“The regime introduced gender discrimination, labor repression, ethnic and cultural discrimination. But people have been expressing their opinions on the streets since 2009. It is estimated that if there were truly free elections, the regime would only have 10% support. But the government uses oil revenues to its advantage and has repressive forces to help it stay in power,” says Rahmani. “They convey to people that anyone who criticizes them supports Israel.”

Among all the protest movements, the one that arose in response to the death of Mahsa Amini stands out. A young woman, arrested for not wearing a burqa properly, died at the hands of her kidnappers on September 16, 2022. The scandal sparked a protest under the slogan “Woman”. Life. Freedom that crossed borders and is honored by the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.

“We have witnessed a great movement. The regime detained approximately 20,000 people. Hundreds died, many were injured, many, for example, suffered irreversible vision problems. On their behalf, we ask you to be the voice of the Iranian “The government wants people not to take to the streets. Narges wants more and more people to take to the streets and for the fight to become stronger and stronger,” says Rahmani, who admits that The Nobel Peace Prize Sends a Message Narges goes further.

According to the Iranian dissident, the West does not act uniformly, and the Iranian government takes advantage of this. “For them, the EU does not exist; they maintain relations with countries that interest them. A policy aimed only at finding cheap resources can be dangerous. Freedoms in our country can mean greater security in Western countries.”

“We demand a change in the West’s strategy towards Iran. They should demand freedom and human rights as the main goal in a country like Iran. So far they have been mentioned only superficially. Respect for human rights must be a condition required condition formalize economic agreements,” he concludes.