2023-09-16 11:45:09
The new French chess champion, who obtained French citizenship in March, confirmed in an interview with Agence France-Presse, “Despite the fear of violence” from the Iranian regime, “which is trying to imprison people to avoid demonstrations in advance (…), the elements of the revolution are present.”
The champion, who on Monday ranked third in the World Team Championship with France, adds that “the will of the people is stronger than oppression.”
In December 2019, the young woman felt that she was “suffocating” due to the rules imposed by the Iranian authorities, so she refused to wear the hijab and showed off her long hair during the World Championship in Moscow, which led to her expulsion from the Iranian national team.
She thus became the second Iranian player to be expelled for this reason, two years after Dorsa Derakhshani, who now competes in tournaments with the United States.
The talented player says, “Chess, which I started at the age of six with my father, provided me with this freedom.”
She adds, “I got this opportunity because I travel a lot and talk to people from different cultures and religions.”
“Feeling free”
Mitra Hejazipour revealed her face in public for the first time while taking a photo of her in Germany, which she posted on her Instagram account in February 2018.
She says that she was “very impressed” by what Iranian journalist Wida Vahid had done a few weeks earlier, when a picture of her showing her hijab hanging on a stick was published. This image became a symbol of resistance.
Hence, the chess player wanted me to “also tell the feeling of freedom when we feel the wind on our hair.”
But she confirms that she was forced to withdraw the post following threatening messages from the regime.
She says that she is “happy” to live in France since the beginning of 2019, first in Brest in the west of the country, where her club is, and then in Paris, where she completed her studies in informatics.
But Mitra Hejazipour, 30, expresses a “feeling of frustration” toward the Iranian women who remain in the country and follows their situation through social media and also by contacting her relatives.
She asserts in French, “We want a change in the regime because we are really tired. They have been killing and imprisoning people for 44 years, creating international controversy, and they do not think about the people.”
The chess grandmaster tries to reassure that clerics “cannot arrest everyone” and points out that the wearing of the hijab, “one of the foundations of the Islamic Republic, is gradually declining” among young Iranian women.
From France, it seeks to “show Iranian women that they are not alone” by participating in demonstrations and gatherings and by talking about “the situation in Iran,” as a contribution to assistance.
She concludes, “We must believe that change is possible because people on the ground are resisting. Throughout history, it has been shown that any dictatorial regime does not survive, but rather collapses in the end.”
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