00:00Now remember the fact is the war is intensifying on the ground and the country that has suffered
00:06the most in this war so far is Iran. Just to give you some figures that have been put in
00:11by various human rights organizations. Nearly 1,937 people reportedly have been killed,
00:19over 24,800 injured already including 240 women. Remember one of the deadliest strike remains that
00:28one on a school in Minab which killed 165 children exposing the human cost of this war. But beyond
00:36the casualties there is the economic damage which is staggering. GDP projected to shrink by 20 percent,
00:4340 million people at the risk of poverty. Iran is not just facing a war but a deepening humanitarian
00:50and economic crisis. Now that in a sense is the gist of a conversation that I had with Iran's most
00:59prominent dissident. Someone who has spent years in jail, in Iranian jails and she now lives in London.
01:06Nasreen Parvas is an anti-war activist as well. Listening to what she had to say, these are words
01:14that each and every one of you would like to listen to carefully. This conversation was taken a few days
01:22ago.
01:28Nasreen Parvas, appreciate ma'am you joining us. You have written an opinion piece in the Guardian in London
01:35where you're joining us from which has created a huge stir. Your video has gone viral. You've spoken about
01:41how, about who will stand up for the Iranian people as death rains on them from the skies.
01:48So even while you are anti-regime, a dissident, you seem to believe that the humanitarian tragedy
01:55unfolding in Iran hasn't got and needs adequate focus. Am I correct?
02:04Yes. You know, I fight against the regime, but war and bombs don't bring freedom. War brings death
02:15and destruction. Both Israel and the Iranian regime aren't allowing news or videos showing what is
02:27happening in their countries to be released to the outside world. People sending footage are being
02:36arrested in both countries. Some clips have leaked, however, and we can see that many people have been
02:45killed in Iran. We can also see the destruction of important manufacturing sites in Iran.
02:55Iran. It may take another 30 years to rebuild the factories and oil refineries in Iran again.
03:08So you're saying that you're speaking out against the destruction of war. But on the other hand,
03:14Ms. Nasreen, both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have said this is a just war to free the Iranian
03:20Iranian people from the tyranny, they say, of the regime there. You don't seem to agree with that,
03:25despite the fact that this same regime tortured you.
03:32That's a joke, you know. Yes, when they started the war, they said that their aim was to get rid
03:40of
03:40the Islamic regime. But as you can see, they have more than one aim. They say they want regime change.
03:50And at the same time, they make Iran as weak as possible by destroying its society. At the same time,
04:00they are making sure that there won't be another uprising.
04:07In the last 10 years, there have been multiple uprisings in Iran. And each time, the regime suppressed them
04:17brutally. But people didn't give up. So the gap between each uprising has become shorter. And more people
04:28joined the uprising each time. I think the West was worried that people in Iran were finally
04:36going to topple the regime. It would have affected other countries in the region and made people in other
04:46countries rise up against their own dictators.
04:51You know, it's interesting the way you're putting it there, Nasreen Parvaz, but you were someone,
04:57I repeat, who was tortured, spent years in jail by the Ayatollah Khomeini regime in the 1980s.
05:03And yet you're coming on my show today and saying that this war is unjust. It's not a just war.
05:15Yes, because this war is not good for people. It's ruining them. I mean, killing so many people,
05:27ruining their houses, their factories, their work. They have lost so many people at the moment,
05:37have lost their homes, have lost their jobs. And when the war is going to finish,
05:45they won't have jobs. They don't have place to live. You know, half of the bombs were dropped in Tehran.
05:54And you know, thousands of bombs were dropped in Tehran. So what kind of liberation is that?
06:04Killing people and ruining their houses. You know, I know the result of war. How can I be in favor
06:18of war?
06:21I can see these results in neighboring countries. They have ruined Afghanistan and Iraq.
06:31So far, we can see the American-Israeli promises to kill only regime personnel was a lie.
06:41They have bombed residential houses, factories, schools, hospitals, and more. They are trying to ruin the country
06:52and repeat what they did in Gaza. The fact that I was in prison in Iran where I was tortured
07:02means that
07:04I love people and I want the best for them. Not bombs and death. I was arrested because I wanted
07:13freedom and equality for people, for everyone.
07:18You know, you wanted freedom and equality for the people of your country. And therefore, you presumably also wanted the
07:24regime that tortured you to come to an end.
07:27You want a democratic Iran as well. So how do you reconcile these conflicting ideas if at one level, there
07:34will be those who say that if Israel and America didn't go to war,
07:38we will only see repeats of what happened in January when an uprising was allegedly ruthlessly crushed. You are anti
07:47-war, but you are also anti-regime.
07:52Of course, yes. You know, the thing is most of people are anti-war and anti-regime, but they don't
08:00have a voice because
08:05the voice of the regime, which is only against the war. People hear that. And because they make lots of
08:17noise. And pro-Israel America group, which is, there are monarchists,
08:27they are trained for years. They had, I mean, the Western governments provided two TVs towards Iran and in the
08:41West. And that gave, I mean, promoted monarchy and whitewashed the crimes of Israel and America.
08:57So this group, which are not many, but they have the Western media behind them, you know, because they are
09:05pro-Israel, pro-America.
09:07So people everywhere just hear these two voices, that is regime and the monarchies. We are the majority of people,
09:18majority of Iranians who are against the war and against the regime.
09:24But people don't hear us because no powers are behind us.
09:33You know, you're saying something important. Majority of Iranians, you're saying, are anti-war and anti-regime both.
09:39But I must ask you, Nasreen Parwaz, what is the solution then? Because this is a regime which has been
09:46in power now for 47 years.
09:48You're saying it's oppressive, it's tortured people like you. At the same time, you are completely against the idea of
09:56war against the Iranian people.
09:59How are you therefore going to find a solution that ends the misery of the people, those who you say
10:06are the majority, who are anti-war and anti-regime?
10:08What's the solution for them?
10:12The solution is in the hand of people. You know, after the massacre of demonstrators in January 2026, after 40
10:24days, people came out again.
10:26And they were having their protests against the regime again, but this war stopped it.
10:37The thing is, until 2025, before Israel attacked Iran, Western governments were helping the regime.
10:49If you remember, in 2022, when people were in the streets, I mean, when the Women, Life, Freedom movement started,
11:04just at that time, Raisi, the president, who was a criminal, was invited to America.
11:14I mean, the Western governments helped the regime.
11:19For example, when people were shot in their eyes in 2022-2023, the bullets which were used were made in
11:34France.
11:35How come?
11:36And actually, this time, the January uprising, which were, people were massacred in the street,
11:49thousands of people lost their eyes with that French-made bullets.
11:56You know, Nasreen Parvaz, you're a brave woman, someone tortured by the Ayatollah Khomeini regime,
12:02and yet has the moral courage to speak out against the war and against the regime.
12:08For joining me there from London, I appreciate you speaking to us here on India Today.
12:14Nasreen Parvaz, joining me there, anti-war, anti-regime.
12:20Nasreen Parvaz, joining me there for him.
12:20Everybody takes a new year of Frankfurt, and we were in the East which discovers a new year of Frankfurt.
12:20We're about to Pluto 652.
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