Iranian opposition leader Taghi Rahmani: ‘The regime is becoming increasingly aggressive and needs to silence dissenting voices’

“I know nothing about my wife. Not me, nor any of my family. She is weak and ill, and although the doctors recommend her hospitalization, the authorities refuse to transfer her. With this new sentence, it is very likely that her health problems will worsen. I am very worried,” Taghi Rahmani (Qazvin, 67), husband of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, told EL PAÍS from Paris in a telephone conversation. Mohammadi was sentenced on February 7 to seven and a half years in prison for the crimes of assembly, conspiracy, and propaganda. This sentence adds to the numerous convictions accumulated by the Iranian activist of Kurdish origin, who has been tireless in her struggle for women’s rights since the 1990s. For years, the Islamic Republic has tried to silence her by repeatedly arresting and sentencing her. But, Rahmani clarifies: “Her commitment to the people of Iran is unbreakable. No matter how many times she is arrested, she dreams of freedom for Iranians and feels a responsibility to the people and to democracy,” her husband affirmed a few days after the new sentence was handed down.

Taghi Rahmani is a well-known figure in Iran. He spent 14 years in prison for his pro-democracy activism. The couple organized public events to denounce the regime’s abuses, which often ended in violent police repression. In the 2009 presidential elections, Rahmani campaigned alongside the reformist Mehdi Karroubi, an “establishment” figure whose role today is “minimal” and who “represents no one” in Iran. “People no longer want any candidate, even if they claim to be reformist. The people want the regime to fall, and no one from the opposition is acceptable to them anymore,” he asserts. Most of the politicians who make up the opposition in Iran have been imprisoned or killed.

The social unrest that swept through many Iranian cities last December in protest against runaway inflation and the ever-increasing impoverishment of the population has added further pressure to a regime that is already struggling and facing the threat of a U.S. Attack. Weakened and challenged in the streets, “the Islamic Republic only addresses its problems with increasingly aggressive repression. It needs to silence voices like Narges’s at its weakest moment,” Rahmani states. “The new conviction against Narges stems from this fear of a popular uprising and may also be a message of resolve toward the West, in response to accusations of indiscriminately killing protesters,” suggests Rahmani, who, from Paris, where he lives with his two children, maintains his political activism by writing articles for various Iranian media outlets “aimed at the social groups targeted by the regime: university professors, union members, journalists, teachers… Now also people in the film and television industry.” “I believe that by helping the community, we contribute to change,” he states.

He hasn’t hugged his wife in 13 years. Narges goes in and out of prison as often as the regime decides, and when she is free, she cannot leave the country because her passport has been confiscated. The activist last saw her children in 2015, when they left Iran to join their father. “We feel safer in Paris than in Iran, but you never feel completely safe. They are always watching me, and I know they are plotting against me, but at least we have the protection of the authorities,” Rahmani says.

In his opinion, the regime doesn’t have much time left. “If it hasn’t fallen yet, it’s because of the solidity of its hierarchical structure. All the factions within the regime, even though they fight among themselves, depend on it, and that’s a lot of people. But now the poor, who aren’t paying attention to politics, are also rebelling because they lack the basic necessities. And that’s a huge step toward defeating the Islamic Republic,” he says. In this regard, he points out that the change is evident on the streets: “Women no longer wear veils. And the morality police, although they exist, are practically inactive.” Furthermore, “the people’s hatred of the regime is openly palpable everywhere you go, in shops, restaurants…” But most importantly, he emphasizes, “more and more people across the country want the fall of the Islamic Republic.” Before the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in 2022 at the hands of the morality police after being arrested for not wearing her veil correctly, “the prevailing sentiment was not the collapse of the system. People were still talking about reforms. Today, former president Hassan Rouhani is openly criticizing the decisions of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. This is new,” he emphasizes.

Iran’s highest authority has the final say on matters such as foreign policy and diplomacy. For weeks, Tehran has been negotiating a nuclear agreement with the U.S. In order to curb Donald Trump’s threats of military action. “I think Iran is making many concessions to the U.S., and it’s in both sides’ best interest to reach an agreement. Nobody wants war, but nothing is certain,” he warns. Rahmani believes that after the U.S. Attack on several nuclear facilities in Iran last June, anything could happen. “Iran isn’t seeking a war or anyone to overthrow the regime. The people know that such a gift wouldn’t come without a price. And they don’t want it. The problem is the lack of a real opposition to bring about that change. There’s only discontent and disengagement, but that doesn’t mean we want a foreign power to do our work,” he concludes. Narges will continue fighting for that change from prison.

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