{"id":11585,"date":"2022-11-28T09:30:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T07:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=11585"},"modified":"2022-12-25T11:21:27","modified_gmt":"2022-12-25T09:21:27","slug":"letter-from-tehran-from-hair-to-hugs-times-are-changing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/letter-from-tehran-from-hair-to-hugs-times-are-changing\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter From Tehran: From Hair to Hugs, Times Are Changing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A man on a bicycle rides past a Paris mural depicting women cutting their hair to show support for Iranian protesters over the death of Mahsa Amini (photo Francois Mori\/AP).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This letter from a prominent Tehran writer to a friend in the west is published anonymously.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dearest __________,<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Things are going from bad to worse. Mostly it is the level of violence that seems to have increased exponentially. And one cannot be but utterly depressed about the deaths of these kids and all young men and women. In the last weeks the movement itself has changed its tone. It\u2019s no longer about just \u201cWoman, Life, Freedom,\u201d but rather economic factors have also become a source of anger and rioting, especially in some of the lesser provinces which were fairly quiet in the first month and a half of the uprising.<\/p>\n

I should say that in Tehran itself things are mostly quiet in comparison to the first days. Only on specific nights and neighborhoods something might happen and usually it\u2019s quickly quelled. But all of this is really smoldering fire under the ashes; the flames could return with the slightest spark. On the other hand, they\u2019ve begun arresting a lot of activists and journalists \u2014 much more so than before. They\u2019ll hang some kind of connection to the U.S or some other Western country on you and send you to jail. All this to basically create a sense of permanent fear.<\/p>\n