Iran’s senior religious leaders and their families lead a lavish lifestyle while the living conditions of a significant part of the population are those of relative poverty, young Iranians revealed in footage sent to Channel 12 and published on Saturday.
“They live there in homes worth millions of dollars. We are only allowed to pass by, but we will never be able to become tenants,” one Iranian could be heard saying.Â
A 44-year-old Iranian named Ali noted, “They give money to Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraq, Afghanistan—everyone in the world gets their share from Iran.”Â
“Why should we live in such extreme poverty? Why should I be unemployed now? Why am I not married? Why shouldn’t I have a wife and children?”
“They constantly say ‘Death to America, Death to England’ from all directions, while their children have American, British, and Canadian passports. People are angry at them and troubled by this,” Ali added.
An Iranian who sent the footage greeted Israeli viewers, noting, “It’s not every day that viewers get to see such images of Tehran,” adding they had filmed the footage with “great difficulty and fear.”
‘If you talk to Israelis, you become a spy’
Ali, who filmed his underground ride to Tehran’s District 1, where senior Iranian officials reside, stated of his actions, “I committed a very dangerous act. If you just talk to Israelis, you become a spy, and they will execute you.”
“I have a master’s degree in electronics, and I am unemployed. I have no profession,” he added.Â
“People are tired—Iranian citizens who are exhausted by the Islamic Republic feel uneasy, bored, and submissive.”
Ali then brought the viewer to a shopping arcade on Tehran’s exclusive Fereshteh Street, where women are reportedly allowed to walk in public without a hijab.Â
“I had to film in a way that wouldn’t be noticed. If the image quality isn’t good, I apologize to the honorable people of Israel,” Ali said.
“Of all the products, not a single one is under $200 or at least $300,” with only 1% of Iran’s population being able to afford such products, according to Ali.
“People like me cannot, 99% of Iran’s residents cannot. But why? A country rich in oil, with the second-largest oil reserves in the world, the second-largest gas reserves in the world. This is oil that belongs to everyone, this is gas that belongs to everyone, these are mines that belong to everyone.”
One Iranian who filmed a restaurant affirmed, “If I go in there to have just one meal, it would cost me half of my monthly salary.”
“I would need to work 15 days to afford a meal at this restaurant in this passage. Only the men—the children of the country’s leaders, the children of politicians, the members of the Revolutionary Guards, their children, and they themselves—only they can come to a place like this to shop.”
“They brought in brand-new European cars, importing them through Dubai. Only members of the Revolutionary Guards and the children of the country’s leaders can get into these cars. They drive the latest car models in the world. They drive Porsches, Maseratis, Benzes, and BMWs with zero mileage, but we can’t even afford to buy low-quality locally made cars,” said Ali.
In contrast to such a lavish lifestyle, Ali stated he had electricity only for one hour per day.Â
“God knows where the electricity goes. All the stores you see are open, but since there is no electricity, they can’t close them, and they can’t sell anything. Life is completely disrupted.”
“For me, everything is over. I hope to die a thousand times a day,” Ali stated, adding he was aware of the danger in speaking with an Israeli news outlet. “I know that maybe one day they will arrest me, but that’s okay. I am ready to go to prison.
According to Ali, most of the citizens of the Islamic Republic feel a similar sentiment to his.Â
“Know this, Khamenei, this is your end. You are old, you are dying. No one will replace you. We, the ordinary people, will not allow it. If the working class decides to rise up, bullets and tanks will not be able to stop them. The people will overthrow this regime. A workers’ uprising is coming. They will not let Mojtaba Khamenei become Iran’s heir,” he said.Â
Ali further noted, “Later, history books will write that there was once a country, the richest in the world, but its people were the poorest in the world.”
Wearing a hijab in Iran
Maryam, an Iranian woman of the Bahai faith who lives in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, shared her experience in having to wear a hijab even though it isn’t promulgated by her religion.Â
“Since we generally do not have a hijab at all in our religion… their approach to the hijab has become much more lenient, and what mainly troubles women today is the fine imposed on cars.”
“They issue it if you are caught behind the wheel without a hijab three times. You will receive three SMS warnings to comply with the hijab mandate, and if you do not adhere to it, they will issue an order to confiscate your car.”
She recounted how when visiting a bank, “A woman wearing a hijab approached me and said, ‘Ma’am, put on your head covering.’ She said, ‘You live here in Iran, you must wear your head covering. The bank manager can refuse to serve you right now because you are not wearing a hijab.’
She responded, “It’s none of your business that I am not wearing a head covering.'”
She addressed the case of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death in the custody of the morality police sparked widespread protests. “After Mahsa’s case, I found the courage to remove the head covering in the street. Before that, I couldn’t,” Maryam said.
“They have made people very angry, especially women, especially when they confiscate cars. Everyone says this is just their way of putting some money in their pockets,” she added.
According to Maryam, the “regime will not survive, considering the pressures it is under and the mistakes it has made against its own people.
“It will destroy itself with its own hands,” she noted.
‘We all love Israel’
With regard to Israel, Maryam stated, “We all want to have very good relations with Israel, and we all love Israel—even the men. It’s funny—many Iranian women have fallen in love with Israeli soldiers because they are so handsome. They hoped that Israel would attack Iran.”
“I hope that one day something will happen that will pave the way for Israelis to come to our country, and for us to be able to do the same with ease,” Maryam shared. “Especially for us, as Bahá’Ãs, because one of my dreams is to go there, to visit Haifa and see the great gardens… I have always prayed to God for this.”
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