Power and Protests.
Unrelenting unrest in Iran…. Nuclear threats from North Korea…
We’ll take you inside the stories making headlines around the world and show you how the U.S. is responding.
Hear from the reporters and the White House about protests in Iran and about a saber-rattling North Korea.
What’s next?
Now on The Inside Story: Power and Protests.
Hi. I’m Carolyn Presutti, VOA Senior Washington Correspondent, from the heart of VOA in its News Center.
Sometimes news shows present incongruent news stories, one right after the other --- with no transition or reason for their order.
In fact, you may have thought that about today’s show. But follow me here --- there’s a thread that runs from Russia’s months-long war on Ukraine --- and the weeks of protests in Iran --- and what seems to be daily launches of missile tests by North Korea.
The thread? Nuclear weapons.
Russia has them and has threatened to use them against Ukraine.
North Korea is believed to have them and is thought to be using the missile tests to send a message.
And Iran wants them and is racing to develop them as the U.S. tries to negotiate a nuclear deal with Tehran ---again.
Today, we will take you through that thread and to show how they all intersect.
Among the many reasons why it’s difficult to reach a new nuclear agreement with Iran is its current, deadly crackdown on street protests.
Those demonstrations started in September and have grown, as Iranians seem energized and emboldened in their demands for change --- despite the threat of arrest or death.
In the past, Iran’s security forces have crushed similar movements like this.
Here’s VOA’s Arash Arabasadi.
After nearly two months of Iranians taking to the streets protesting their country’s leadership, people there say security forces now open fire with live rounds and tear gas indiscriminately into crowds and even people’s homes.
It started in mid-September after Iran’s “morality police” arrested 22-year-old college student, Mahsa Amini, for what they described as “immodest attire.” Three days later, Amini died in police custody.
Iran officially blamed a fall for triggering a fatal heart attack, but her father, Amjad, told VOA that was a lie. He says Mahsa Amini had no preexisting health problems prior to her arrest.
Her death put a face on a global movement for human rights.
And that’s when Iranians took to the streets chanting a popular refrain, “Death to Khamenei,” a reference to the country’s supreme leader.
Worldwide demonstrations followed in support of human rights and calling for an end to Iran’s theocratic government.
Unlike previous periods of turmoil in Iran, like the summer-2009 Green Movement protesting a presidential election, the mass demonstrations following Amini’s death have no leadership. Iranians say the government has now turned to jailing protesters and even the lawyers who defend them.
Many of whom land in Evin Prison, notorious for housing political prisoners. Recently a fire engulfed parts of the complex with onlookers reporting gunshots inside. Iran says it was a distraction created by prisoners attempting escape. Others say it was an act of arson by prison officials.
Here’s VOA Persian’s Siamak Dehghanpour speaking with a prisoner in Iran who spent time in Evin, his voice altered to protect his identity.
He refutes the Islamic Republic’s claim that prisoners tried to escape. He says there is no escape from Evin. He describes heavy metal doors and long stretches of land to cover even if those doors came down. He says prisoners would have to run a long way just to reach waiting guards. He says escape is simply not possible. reports at least eight deaths from the blaze with at least one fire started intentionally at a time when prisoners were locked up. Those trying to flee met guards wielding batons and firing live ammunition.
And this all happens against the backdrop of the anniversary of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. After taking hostage the embassy staff, religious hardliners claimed power, burying Iran’s monarchy and creating instead a theocracy.
But young Iranians are mostly secular, so they are inherently at odds with a government mandating hijabs for women, like the one thought to be at the center of Mahsa Amini’s death. Iranians say they don’t know what comes next or how far the regime will escalate its response to mostly-peaceful protests. Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.
During a campaign stop ahead of the midterm elections, President Joe Biden pledged his support to those seeking change in Iran.