The Iranian activist Parham Fakhri (26) from Emmen knows from his own experience how far the tentacles reach from the Iranian regime. He wrote the recently published book ‘The Lange Arm of the Iranian regime’ about this. His criticism of the strict regime in his home country has led to death threats. “The truth has many enemies. But it only strengthens me to continue.”
Fakhri still remembers it well: the protests against the alleged fraudulent re -election of President Ahmadinejad in 2009. Millions of Iranians then came to the street, in what would later be known as the green revolution.
Those demonstrations were then hard by the regime. “I also walked along in the demonstrations and saw how the security services with tear gas and patterns broke up on people. There was even a sharp shot. A young woman was killed as a result, just because she wanted more freedom.”
At a young age, Fakhri is starting to actively speak out against the strict regime of the Ayatollahs in Iran. Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has been an Islamic republic, with the religious leader Ali Khamenei at the head. He himself is born twenty years later in a strict -religious Islamic family, where faith and obedience are central. Praying is mandatory, criticism is not tolerated. Fakhri experiences it from an early age as stifling and comes into resistance.
He openly expressed himself against the religious indoctrination during the lessons. Also at home there was no room for own choices. “My father was strict, religious and violent. I often got blows because I didn’t obey. I didn’t believe in what they believed.” He just wanted to be a free child, without coercion, without fear.
In 2011 his parents separate. “The tensions between them were great, especially because of the religious beliefs of my father.” His mother wants to separate herself from Islam, something that is dangerous in Iran. Filliness can even result in the death penalty. “In the end my mother was concerned about me, because my father took a distance from me. He didn’t want me. I was always ‘too much’ for him.”
Fakhri looks back on that chapter without regret or lack. “I was mistreated at home, bullied outdoors and nothing I did was once good enough. It touched me constantly in fear as a child. He was no longer a father for me, but an enemy.”
At one point it was no longer safe in Iran for Fakhri and his mother. “We got death threats and we felt that it was time to leave the country. A divorce in Iran is actually unacceptable and strongly convicted. Moreover, my mother had Christian friends, which was also sensitive in our environment.”
The journey runs via Iran, where they cross the border to Turkey on foot, with taxis, buses and cars. From there we used human smugglers and false passports to cross the border to Greece.
Fakhri has been living in the Netherlands for 12.5 years. First he stayed with his mother in various asylum seekers’ centers, including in Emmen. “Only in 2019 did we receive our residence permit, after the children’s pardon had already been abolished. I was one of the last young people who was allowed to stay through this scheme. There was even an attempt to send me back to Iran, but a campaign was started in the municipality of Emmen to make my stay possible.”
Parham Fakhri goes back to school and is now following a nurse training. Since 2017 he has continued his activist work. Initially he did that with music and rap, in which he made critical songs about the regime. The tattoos on his knuckles (with the words ‘rap’ and ‘Freedom’) still remind us of that.
Later he decided to take a different course: via social media, podcasts and videos he critically discusses the situation in Iran. He maintains contacts with the Iranian opposition, journalists and other refugees.
His Instagram account is growing rapidly: within six months he has 110,000 followers, where he makes hard statements about the Ayatollah. After the death of a 22-year-old woman who refused to wear her headscarf in Iran, he made the data of the perpetrators public. “That led to so many (death) threats that Instagram eliminated his account, and his messages were also deleted on Twitter (now X).”
In 2019, his name and photo will be placed online by supporters of the regime, together with a threat that they will “pay with him.” “They say they know where I live and have a lot of information about me.” Until now it has stayed, he says.
“Yes, it affects my sense of security. And I know that the regime has the means to actually take action. But it only strengthens me to continue. The truth always has enemies. Even if it costs my life, I would go with pride. I see no reason not to pronounce myself.”