Narges Mohammadi Emphasizes the Role of the Islamic Republic in the Poisoning of Students

Narges Mohammadi, a jailed human rights activist, in a message from prison on the occasion of receiving the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, likened the Islamic Republic to the Taliban and accused the Iranian government of being involved in the poisoning of students with chemical gases. In her message, which was sent to the Persian section of Voice of America on Wednesday, April 13, she announced her summons to the Evin Prosecutor's Office for 'a new case with numerous charges' and stated that, 'like the previous three courts, I have declared' that she intends 'not to participate in any court' as she does not recognize the Islamic Republic. The UNESCO International Press Freedom Prize, named after Guillermo Cano, was jointly awarded on Tuesday to Narges Mohammadi, Niloufar Hamedi, and Elaheh Mohammadi, three imprisoned women in Iran. Mohammadi thanked the decision-makers for granting this award, calling the Islamic Republic 'an authoritarian, religious, and misogynistic government' and emphasized, 'I have strived and will strive for the transition from this government.' The Vice President and spokesperson of the imprisoned Defenders of Human Rights Center stated: 'In countries like Iran, authoritarian rulers with their distorted and self-serving beliefs have led the human identity and lives of millions to ruin, distorting the 'right to national sovereignty' and 'the right to self-determination' to destroy the foundations of life for those people within Iran's borders and around the world.' Mohammadi emphasized that Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, prevents Iran from joining the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Peace, and Human Rights, and referred to the efforts of women and girls for 'achieving gender equality.' She added that in Iran, 'for months, schoolgirls have been poisoned with chemical gases,' but 'the government is preparing and supporting a policy that creates terror and fear to prevent girls from going to school.' The Vice President and spokesperson of the imprisoned Defenders of Human Rights Center further likened the Islamic Republic to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which 'seeks to deprive girls of their right to education,' stating: 'The Taliban announces this from the ministry's loudspeakers,' while 'the Islamic Republic pursues this goal with deceptive policies.' Mohammadi's message was released a day after the leader of the Islamic Republic, in remarks on Teacher's Day, referenced months of poisoning from attacks with unknown gases in schools, stating that 'school is significant' and 'efforts must be made for students to be present in school.' She also emphasized the public access to university education, mentioning the deprivation of Baha'i youth in Iran, stating: 'Baha'i youth in Iran are prevented from education in the most secure and violent ways, and other youth and children are discouraged from education due to poverty, inflation, unemployment, and hopelessness; deprivation of education means lowering the level of awareness, which threatens freedom of expression.' She also listed the 'violent suppression' of journalists and 'civil society' as instances of freedom of expression violations in Iran, stating that the Islamic Republic, 'by depriving society of independent civil institutions' and 'implementing policies based on creating and intensifying ethnic, religious, tribal, and gender discrimination,' 'diverts the possibility of dialogue and free expression of thoughts and ideas into conflict and contradiction.' Mohammadi described the 'Revolutionary Movement of Women, Life, Freedom' as 'a life-based revolution' standing against one of the 'most inhuman and life-hostile governments' in the current era. This political prisoner called on the international community not to abandon the people of Iran and to 'support civil society, the people rising in the streets, political and ideological prisoners, and prisoners at risk of execution' and to 'weaken the government's capacity for repression and the power of repressive agents, prisons, torture, and execution for the advancement of the peaceful and non-violent goals of the Iranian people.'