"We finally need Baerbock's feminist foreign policy"

For more than four months, thousands of people in Iran have been protesting non-stop against the regime of the Islamic Republic. This reacts with the brutal suppression of its own citizens. Again and again there are mass arrests and death sentences. In light of recent executions in Iran, the European Union recently tightened its sanctions against Tehran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has not yet been classified as a terrorist organization. The organization is considered the elite unit of the mullah regime's armed forces and makes a significant contribution to the violent crackdown on demonstrators.

WELT spoke to three young people who actively support protesters and political prisoners in Iran from Germany.

“I am a dual national and have both a German and an Iranian passport because my parents are from Iran. However, my involvement as an activist now means that I can no longer fly to Iran without fear of being arrested directly at the airport.

For four months I have not had any direct contact with my family in the country, but can only speak to my relatives through second or third persons to give them a little more security. That's why it's incredibly important that, in addition to Iranians, non-Iranians also take part in the demonstrations in Germany.

What the German government and what Europe have done to support the people of Iran are good first steps. After four months, however, that is no longer enough.

We need the turning point that Olaf Scholz is talking about, also for Iran policy. This means that we have to break with the previous Iran policy, no longer negotiate and no longer hold talks with the mullahs, but fully support the revolution in Iran.

Iranians across the country have managed to unite and protest together side by side against a common enemy: the Islamic Republic. And this cohesion will one day break the regime’s neck.”

"In Germany, many don't really understand what's actually happening in Iran. There, people take to the streets because they are fighting back against a regime that forces them into a moral costume. But they want to sing, dance, flirt and be free - just like we do here.

For an interview like this, where I openly express my opinion, people in Iran would be imprisoned.

I think the political situation is very clear: we had a wrong policy on Iran for 43 years. We bet on a regime that is corrupt and mafia-like, that oppresses, imprisons, tortures and even murders its own citizens. This has to end now.

The nuclear negotiations with the regime have also led to more chaos than stability. The Islamic regime is on the verge of building an atomic bomb, promoting terror in the region and carrying out attacks on synagogues. We must break off the negotiations and develop a completely new Iran strategy that focuses on the protesters on the streets and not on the regime.

We must not stop looking at what is happening in Iran. Because if we look the other way, the regime will keep killing people.”

“I come from Iran and have been living in Germany for six years. I was last there a year ago to visit my parents. I have always been able to enter the country without any problems, but that changed when the protests began.

I made a conscious decision to actively support the protesters in Iran. Here in Germany I can go out on the street without fear, but that's not possible for the people in Iran. However, this also means that I can no longer go back to my family. But I think it's worth it.

At the rallies, I always had the feeling that the Germans showed a lot of solidarity. Yet many probably did not expect a feminist revolution in the Middle East.

However, more needs to happen on the political side. Germany must act now and there is a lot the federal government can do. First of all, I hope that the State Department will initiate a change of course in Iran policy. It is time that Annalena Baerbock fulfilled her promise of a feminist foreign policy. Feminist foreign policy means that feminist values ​​are just as important around the world as they are in Germany. And women in Iran need our support.

The German Embassy in Tehran can help vulnerable people in Iran by issuing humanitarian visas so that these people can come to Germany and live here safely. In addition, the Revolutionary Guard must be put on the terror list and the Iranian ambassador expelled.”