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formerly known as
Women's Liberation Front
'Insight is the first step of resistance against any ideologic form of dictatorial and misogynistic oppression'

Tribute to KIAN PIRFALA, 9 years old and victim of the Islamic Republic's savagery 10 years ago.

'Women's Arab Spring 1.2'
Updated Dec. 13, 2024
Special reports about the Afghanistan Women Revolt and more
Updated Dec. 29, 2024

Syria: the Fall of Assad and aftermath
Updates Jan 6 - 3,2025

PALESTINE
Updated Jan 5, 2025

HAIL TO THE IRANIAN WOMEN'S REVOLUTIONISTS FALLEN FOR FREDOM
against the supreme leader, the arch-reactionary Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, and his placeman president. The message of the women when the former president visited a university was plain: <give way or get lost> in 2023 and still is.
IN MEMORY OF ASRA PANAHI (16)- JINA MAMINI (22) - NIKA SHAKARAMI (16), SARINA ESMAILZADEH (16) HADIS NAJAFI (20), AND MORE WOMEN WHO WERE ASSASINATED SO FAR BY THE IRANIAN AXIS OF EVIL.
  Click here for a total list so far

(Updates January 10, 2025) z

UPDATES OF THE UPRISING  AND REVOLUTION AROUND THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF JINA AMINI IN CUSTODY OF THE REGIME'S ATTEMPT AND CRUELTY TO TRY AND CRUSH IT.

This links to a page that is in full dedicated and a tribute to Jina Amini who, with stilll 'till today too many other sisters gave their life for freedom. Long live a long and free Iran And do read also the above linked  incredible December 2023 update! despite the mullahs' regime to force it down! Her mother speaks out loud and clear UPDATED: September 29 - 16, 2024 Second Anniversary of Jina Amini's state-sanctioned murder incl. Commemorating Bloody Friday and earlier news about a wave of arrests of her fellow-citizen

We all grief for the loss of our sister / daughter of Iran Armita Gevarnand:   Read her updated story here

'War against the No-hijabi women' Update Dec. 20, 2024: Iranian Women Rise Against the New Hijab Law with the Slogan "Woman, Resistance, Freedom" Nov. 13, 2024: hijab-torture clinics

Earlier Stories and more

MARJAM AKBARI MONFARED June 24, 2024: The Iranian Regime Judiciary Launches a New Case to Seize the Assets of Maryam Akbari Monfared and Her Family, in Revenge for Seeking Justice for Her Siblings Executed in the 1980s Click the above for also earlier news

January 8, 2025 - December 28 - 4, 2024
Sisters 4 each other, Sisters 4 All
in continuation of the below resistence of the 3 sisters

When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

 
Iranwire - January 8, 2024 - by Aida Ghajar
"'I Couldn't Believe He'd Shoot': The Pain Behind Tehran Joker's Smile
On a quiet winter afternoon in Germany, Mohammad Farzi, known to many as the Tehran Joker, reflects on his journey - from bringing laughter to the streets of Tehran to seeking refuge thousands of miles from home. In Tehran, Mohammad embraced a unique role, wearing the Joker's iconic makeup not to cause chaos but to bring moments of joy to a city burdened by restrictions. His appearances at protests and public gatherings earned him both admirers and the attention of authorities, who viewed such expressions of joy with suspicion. Now in Germany, he is part of a growing community of Iranian protesters who, though safe, carry deep scars. Many, like Mohammad, fled during or after the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests that shook Iran in 2022 and 2023. Some are still undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during those demonstrations, including those who were deliberately blinded by security forces. I spoke with Mohammad a few days after he arrived in Germany, a country that has become a second home for many Iranian protesters. The first time I wrote about the Tehran Joker was in February 2023, a few months after IranWire began investigating the use of blinding protesters as a weapon of repression. At that time, the Woman, Life, Freedom protests were still ongoing, and new atrocities were being uncovered regularly. Two years have passed since those days, but for the victims, life has not moved on. Many have been forced into exile and migration, still grappling with treatments for blindness or undergoing reconstructive surgeries for injuries inflicted by the Islamic Republic's forces.
'I Couldn't Believe He'd Shoot': The Pain Behind Tehran Joker's Smile
As a teenager in Iran, Mohammad explored life's big questions through Michael Jackson-inspired dance and martial arts. His search for purpose even led him to the Zein al-Din seminary, although he says he could only endure that environment for two months. Alongside dancing, Mohammad practiced martial arts like judo and karate, aspiring to excel. However, even sports are under state control in the Islamic Republic, and advancement often requires compliance with its structures. To pursue his ambitions, Mohammad joined the Basij. "In martial arts, everyone has to join the Basij," he says. "Otherwise, your coaching license is revoked, and you can't advance. I even worked with the municipality, shared ideas, and took a photo with [Mohammad Bagher] Ghalibaf." He adds, "Many people tell me to delete those photos, but I want to show who I was. Don't be fooled - I also thought these people were good. Then I got inside and saw the reality. I wanted to make a difference, but eventually, I fled. You learn everything there, even stealing." After years in professional sports, Mohammad decided to leave that world behind and dedicate himself to the art he loved: clowning. His goal was simple - to bring joy, not just to himself, but to others. He made this choice knowing that both the government and parts of society often viewed clowns negatively. "I saw art as a way to serve people," he says. "I didn't pursue my art for fame. I did it with a heart to serve the community - at charities, events about air pollution, and more. We faced all kinds of reactions. Over time, people began to approach me but not to laugh. They came to talk." Mohammad recalls, "When someone left me smiling, it wasn't because of my act, but because they had released their pain. I didn't know how to describe it until one day, Hossein Bagherpour posted an Instagram story: 'My smile carries pain.' It was a simple explanation." During our interview, Mohammad decided to recreate his Joker persona on camera. We went to a cosmetics store, set up a table and mirror, and he sat down, facing the mirror. I stayed back, watching as he painted a tear under the dark circles around his eyes. He explains, "This contrast between a pained smile, the Joker’s laughter, and tears streaming from his eyes was exactly what I saw in people. I realized this could define the 'Tehran Joker,' and that's what I wanted to be." When asked how much the Tehran Joker resembles Mohammad Farzi himself, he replies, "My life is reflected in this face. I was progressing with success but burdened with countless pains and setbacks." It was in 2021 when Mohammad first created the tear-streaked Joker face and took it to the streets. He never imagined that the same tears he painted on his face would one day be mirrored in his own life, as one day he would become a target of the Islamic Republic's forces and lose his vision.
PIC
Jina Amini
In September 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained by the morality police in Tehran, changed everything for Mohammad and countless other young Iranians. Speaking about Amini's death, Mohammad could no longer hold back his tears. "She was like my sister, like my family - she was the daughter of Iran. I decided then that I, who has no wife or children, should step up if anything happens, even if I die. So I went out with two friends." On September 22, 2022, nearly a week after protests erupted in Amini's hometown of Saqqez, demonstrators in Tehran received word of protest locations. Mohammad joined the crowds, but soon, security forces in cars and on motorcycles attacked and scattered them. "I turned around and couldn't find my friends. Ahead of me, they had grabbed a girl by her hair and were dragging her. I couldn't control myself." Mohammad confronted the riot police, who, in his words, were clad in <cockroach-like> [special unit] uniforms. The officers retreated, but soon, he found himself facing another group of riot police. They threw everything at me. My ears rang, and smoke filled the air. When I opened my eyes, I saw a green laser aimed at my forehead, just above my eye." He recalls hearing one of the officers, speaking in Arabic, say something as he aimed a shotgun at him. "It felt like my soul separated from my body. Then she fired. It was like a fly hitting your eye - suddenly, my face and head burned. My vision went dark. My eye was full of blood. Everything slowed down." At first, Mohammad thought his eyelid had been torn and was covering his eye. "I couldn't believe he'd shoot. At most, I thought he'd scare me, and I'd leave." Six pellets struck his head, face, and neck. One of them tore into his eyeball, lodging itself against his skull. When asked if he recognized the weapon used, Mohammad confirmed that he did. I showed him images of various shotguns identified during our investigations, and he pointed to one resembling the Sayad-2 shotgun, which is commissioned by Iran's law enforcement and custom-made for the police. After being shot, Mohammad didn't know what to do. Usually, he would have gone to a hospital or clinic, but during the 2022 protests, many medical centers were under government surveillance, and injured protesters were being arrested. Dazed and bloodied in the street, Mohammad was approached by a stranger who told him, "Go straight to Farabi [Eye Hospital]. I went there two years ago. They won't harm you." That person was Mohammad Hossein Erfan, who had lost his left eye during the November 2019 protests. After enduring four years of pain and blindness, Mohammad-Hossein joined the 2022 protests, only to be blinded by a pellet gun. Shotguns, often labeled <less lethal,> can still cause fatal consequences. Mohammad-Hossein, who lost his eye to a shotgun pellet during the protests, ultimately died last year - just days before his wedding. Mohammad recounted his experience at Farabi Hospital, "A man ran into the hall, carrying a child in his arms. The 17-month-old was riddled with pellets, one eye completely bloodied." "The father's hand, holding the child, was also full of pellets. The mother ran in, slipping on the blood-covered floor, and screamed, 'Save my baby!' It was so chaotic we forgot our own pain. The child looked like he had chickenpox, covered in countless holes." According to Mohammad, the family had been inside their car when a suppressive force aimed a shotgun at them and opened fire. A few days after Mohammad's injury, plainclothes officers arrested him and took him to an undisclosed location they called a "safe house." They confiscated his phone and interrogated him about his role as the Tehran Joker. "They had gathered names and wanted me to speak against them," Mohammad explained. He was released only after signing a document pledging cooperation and agreeing not to participate in further protests. The interrogator warned him that they would stay in touch on Telegram. The contact did not stop. "They'd ask, 'Do you know this person?' or 'Can you approach so and so?’ I distanced myself from everyone. I told people they were messaging me. But the more I retreated, the more their threats escalated. They told me to go to Turkey, lure others there, and help them arrest those people. I made excuses, left the country, and escaped their grip." The Islamic Republic believed that blinding a group of young protesters would instill fear and silence dissent. However, the injured found one another and formed an informal network that joined Iran's broader struggle for justice. Now living in exile, Mohammad worries about his friends who are still in Iran. He knows that, like all authoritarian regimes, the Islamic Republic increases pressure on civil activists whenever it feels threatened. Once dedicated to bringing joy to people's lives, the Tehran Joker now uses his voice from afar to advocate for justice. With a close associate, Mohammad created a Wikipedia page documenting protesters blinded during the 2022 protests and launched a website called "Eyes for Freedom." >>
Source: https://iranwire.com/en/blinding-as-a-weapon/137891-i-couldnt-believe-hed-shoot-the-pain-behind-the-tehran-jokers-smile/

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