‘We are all Mahsa’

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, we continue our discussion around the protest movement currently underway in Iran by speaking with Iranian-born Leila Zand, who now lives in the US and focuses on Track II Diplomacy in Iran/U.S. relations, as well as Citizen Diplomacy with  CodePink. 

Having been raised in the throes of both the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq War which followed shortly after, Leila uses her personal experience to illuminate the radical socio-economic, cultural, and religious shifts that the Iranian people have experienced in such a short time period, and how this impacts what is being expressed by women and young people on the streets today. Together, Stephanie and Leila discuss the possibilities in this context for creative, nonviolent solutions, when there are also active and destabilizing risks like widespread anger, devastating sanctions, and threats of armament. In spite of this, at Nonviolence Radio we know that one thing is for certain– wherever there is conflict and violence, we will find nonviolence in action, even if it's small. There’s always something we can do.

For more on nonviolence in Iran visit Around the Movement.

Part 1 with Mehdi Aminrazavi ‘Each time it gets bigger’

Transcript archived at Waging Nonviolence