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Mohamed Moradi, 38, took this tragic decision to draw attention to the situation in Iran and to get the Western media to report on the protests

An Iranian commits suicide to raise awareness of the situation in his country

Elika Jouibari: "Dozens of activists have made our image public; if nothing changes in Iran, we can't go back"

Iran expelled from UN Women's Commission

Iranian women's struggle inspires the world

PHOTO/ATALAYAR - Iranians in the West call on governments to take stronger action against the ayatollahs' regime
Margarita Arredondas
Updated: 29/12/22

"I have decided to commit suicide in the Rhone River. It is a challenge to show that we, the Iranian people, are very tired of the situation. By the time you see this video, I will be dead". These were some of the last words of Mohamed Moradi, a 38-year-old Iranian who decided to take his own life to draw attention to the critical situation in his country.

Moradi, who had been living in Lyon with his wife since 2019, decided to release a video explaining the reasons that led him to take this tragic decision. The Iranian assured that he was acting "without stress or sadness", and that he was doing it to "show everyone that Iranians need help".  

"We want to change our country to a democratic country with equal rights for women and men," said Moradi, who also outlined the current situation in Iran. He condemned the violence used by the authorities during the protests. According to NGOs such as Iran Human Rights, at least 476 people have been killed since the demonstrations began.

"Sadly, we have lost many daughters, sons, teenagers and even young children. We have to do something," Moradi said in the video. The Iranian also stressed that he "could not live in peace, comfortably" while his compatriots were being killed. As Iranian activists in Spain from the platform 'Woman, Life, Freedom' point out, many Iranians living abroad suffer from anxiety, depression or a sense of guilt about what is happening in Iran.  

Moradi tries in this way to raise awareness and denounce the abuses of the regime in Tehran against the Iranian people, as well as to get the media to report on the situation in the country.

"Moradi committed suicide to make the voice of the revolution heard in Iran," Timothee Amini, a member of the Iranian community in Lyon, told AFP. According to Amini, the Western media "do not transmit" the voice of Iranians. While the war in Ukraine is covered every day, one hears "very little about Iran" in the news, Amini added. 

This is echoed by many other Iranians in the diaspora, who call on journalists and the media to talk about Iran and the plight of Iranian citizens.

Lili Mohadjer, an Iranian from Lyon, told the news agency that she hoped "his death would be another element for the Western media and governments to support the current revolution in Iran". Mohadjer, like other compatriots, called Moradi's death a "sacrifice to win freedom", not a suicide.

"May his death serve to keep those of us who are here fighting," stresses Nilufar Saberi, an Iranian activist in Spain. 

Italy summons the Iranian ambassador 

In addition to the media, Iranians in the West are calling on governments to take stronger measures against the Ayatollahs' regime, such as sanctions against the political and military elite, the expulsion of ambassadors or the suspension of all relations with Tehran.

Countries such as Canada have already imposed sanctions against members of the Revolutionary Guard, while politicians in Germany, the Netherlands and other European nations have begun to "sponsor" Iranian prisoners on death row.  

The latest country to take action against Tehran's abuses and violence has been Italy, which has summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest the "unacceptable" response to women-led protests in the Islamic republic. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has condemned the violence in Iran, describing the situation as an "unacceptable disgrace" and assuring that Rome has taken "a hard line" in defence of women. 

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