The BBC gains rare access to people inside Iran | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News podcast from the. BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte. Gallagher and today the BBC gains rare. access inside Iran, sharing the voices. of those who protested against the. regime. I couldn't be silent. I wasn't. willing to give [music] an inch just. because I spoke out about my child and. continued her fight. They may execute. me. and the medic who helped the. protesters. >> They were shot at with the intent to.

kill in the head, in the neck, in the genitals. >> We'll speak to the producer behind the. new documentary. They felt that if they. didn't speak up that there would be. effectively, you know, that their. version of events would wouldn't be. recorded. >> um because of the lack of free speech. inside the country. [music].

Iran has seen a year of turbulence with. widespread street protests, a brutal. crackdown by the authorities, and the. start of the USIsraeli war on the. country. Now, BBC Panorama has secured. rare access to people inside Iran whose. lives have been changed forever by those. events. Among them is a mother who was. forced to flee the country after her. daughter was killed during. anti-government protests. Samir's. daughter, Sevda, was killed during the. protests against the Iranian regime in. January. [singing and music].

>> I couldn't even scream. I just stared at. Seba lying there lifeless. Blood was. gushing out of her mouth and nose. We held a funeral. More than half of those there were plain. clothed agents. Samira escaped Iran after she says the. Iranian security forces threatened her.

Samira says they were angry she publicly. blamed them for her daughter's death. >> Coming through the mountains to leave. Iran. >> Now Samir is in hiding. I couldn't be silent. I wasn't willing. to give an inch just because I spoke out. about my child and continued her fight. They may execute me. She's named online. members of the security forces she.

believes are responsible for killing. protesters, including her daughter. >> I'm a onewoman army taking on the. regime. Every day, every second without SAP is a. struggle, like being a mother who's lost. her heart. I will never forget you. >> as long as I breathe. >> The Iranian embassy in London told.

Panorama peaceful and legitimate. protests had been hijacked by foreign. powers including the US which promoted. violence. >> And Gashbin Muhammad who made this film. for Panorama joined me earlier and told. me about a medic who helped treat people. who were shot during the anti-government. protests. His experience was that um. that the hospitals were effectively um. struggling to cope with a number number. of protesters coming in um to for. treatment into the hospitals during the.

8th and the 9th of January when the. Iranian security forces essentially. escalated their response to the protests. unleashing a wave of violence. >> And this medic what was he saying about. the types of injuries that people were. coming to him with? >> Well, obviously this medic was working. at one hospital. So that's where his own. account and experience comes from. But. his experience was very much that on the. night of the 8th he the patients he. treated were wounded with pellet um. pellet shotguns. And then on the 9th of.

January he says that almost all the. patients that he treated were shot with. real bullets. >> I treated old people, middle-aged people. and teenagers. They were shot at with the intent to. kill in the head, in the neck, in the genitals. >> So much has happened in Iran this year, but can we go back to the beginning of. the year? What sparked those protests.

and what was the reaction from the. Iranian regime? >> The protests initially started um over. economic discontent and Iran's failing. economy. Um but they quickly turned into. something much bigger um about you know. calling for the Iranian regime to go. effectively calling for the supreme. leader um Ayatah Ali Kamei to go. >> and the regime came down incredibly hard. on those protesters. >> Yes. Initially, I think they recognized. the um the protests that were about.

economic discontent, but as the as as. you know, as protesters started calling. um for for the Supreme Leader to go, um. obviously the Iranian authorities. responded to that. And it was it was on. the 8th and the 9th of January that a. lot of the research shows that the. violence really escalated. And that's. why we're really focusing on those two. dates um in our documentary. Not long. after those protests started, the war on. Iran, the US-Israeli war on Iran started.

as well. >> Yes, exactly. And and that was a very um. when we spoke to Iranians inside the. country, obviously that period between. the when the protests had been stamped. out and before the war started, obviously Iran was, you know, according. to our contributors that we've spoken to. inside Iran, it was very much in a state. of mourning um after the loss of lives. Um, you know, we had obviously Sam. Samira, one of the uh key contributors. in our film. Her daughter was shot um. during the protests. Um, and you know,

families like her, were holding funerals. for their children and mourning the loss. of lives really. Um, and then the war. suddenly started. um you know Iranians. had different perspectives on the war. but in the film we see um Amina not her. real name she was um she was celebrating. the death of Ayatah Ali Kamei um like. many other Iranians um so the war really. meant different things for different you. know different Iranians as in any. society um and and obviously in our film.

we also have another contributor um. Shireen who also not her real name. because she needs to disguised, but she. she was caught up in the bombing. herself. Um, and she her perspective is. effectively that you know that that the. war didn't bring them um, you know, democracy or more freedom. >> And what was interesting when we were. talking earlier, you were saying, you. know, a lot of the coverage of this has. focused on the straight of Hormuz. It's. the petrol prices that have gone up and.

sometimes the stories of the people. inside Iran aren't given as much. attention. It's very difficult obviously. to give you know Iranians inside the. country um that same level of attention. you know purely because of the obstacles. the logistical obstacles of um you know. filming inside Iran and also but also. the risks um it's obviously you know. risky and and obviously the contributors. that spoke to us wanted to do so despite. those risks and they're brave but the. Iranian authorities um obviously. restrict access to international.

journalists um so that obviously makes. it very difficult to um put attention on. what you know ordinary Iranians, particularly those protesting and who. experienced the war um coverage. >> What do you think the voices and the. stories that you've heard this year, the. accounts of what people have endured, what do you think it tells us about Iran. at this moment? >> So, obviously our contributors stories. are all very unique and different. Um. and um obviously we have we we Mina um.

not her real name and Samira were out on. the streets protesting and and Milad. obviously treated injured injured. protesters. But um but then we also have. Hamid um who is a Kurdish Iranian who'. been jailed previously for criticizing. the Iranian government um on social. media. um and and he says um that when. the war started that the authorities in. Iran started taking revenge against its. own people and by that um what we've.

understood from the multiple. conversations we've had with him is that. effectively that because of in his view. because of the Iranian authorities's own. fear of people going back to the streets. that in his view they started arresting. and um executing more people because. because obviously Iran was obviously, you know, in unprecedented turmoil. during the war and there, in his view, very afraid of people taking to the. streets again during the war.

>> and at one point it seemed like Iran was. perhaps on the cusp of change with those. protests. They seem to be getting a lot. of momentum. Now, a lot of people are. saying that actually the regime is. stronger than ever since the war. Are. people still protesting in Iran? Can. people protest? >> It's an it's a very good question. Um. and obviously our contributors inside. Iran, you know, they all feel that that. essentially that the Iranian, you know, government is more entrenched. But in. terms of protest, obviously there's this. big, you know, um collective trauma that.

we hear about from inside Iran, especially after the the protests in. January. Um and while there were some. small protests after those um I suppose. you know talking to um Mina and Shireen. not their real names but. >> um two women um who are both you know. against the regime um but I guess. they're taking a stand in different in a. different way which is obviously you. know having you know going to the. streets without their headscarf which is.

obviously you know a form of defiance. Um, so I think people are maybe not. protesting out on the streets as a. collective, but I would say that young. people like Mina and Shireen are, you. know, making decisions. on their own that maybe the state. doesn't allow them to make. >> What was the reaction? People like. Amina, people like Shireen, people like. Samira that their voices are going to be. heard outside of Iran, that people. potentially around the world are going. to hear what has happened to them. What. was their reaction to that? they wanted.

their experiences and their words to be. heard by the world. Um, now that. obviously pres presents risks. Um, but. they want to do so despite those risks. And so, so we've obviously disguised. their voices um to try and protect them. as much as possible. But there was very. much a sense amongst all of those that. we spoke to that they felt that if they. didn't speak up that there would be. effectively, you know, that their. version of events would wouldn't be. recorded. Mhm. >> Um because of the lack of free speech.

inside the country. >> Like history wouldn't be recorded. It. would be written by the regime. >> Yes, that's what they were afraid of. >> And what are the Iranian authorities. saying about your film and the. accusations that you've put to them? Well, the Iranian embassy in London told. Panorama that peaceful and legitimate. protests had been hijacked by foreign. powers, including the US, um, which it. says promoted violence, provided weapons. and equipment, and compromised public. security. And that's all for [music].

now. To hear more about the topics we. covered today, you can find the audio. version of the Global News podcast. wherever you get your podcasts. If you'd. like to get in touch, our contact. details are below. I'm Charlotte. Gallagher. Until next time. Goodbye. [music].