When journalist Nazila Fathi’s house came under surveillance in 2009, she knew it was time to leave Iran. Nazila was one of the last reporters on the ground during the massive protests following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial victory. Today she is living in exile in the U.S.
Recently, Nazila spoke to TakePart about the current human rights situation there and how she made the difficult decision to leave Iran.
TakePart: When did you know you had to leave Iran?
Nazila: I left three days after I noticed about 16 people outside my home. I had tickets for a vacation I had planned a long time ago, but I was planning to stay in Iran because I was practically one of the last reporters on the ground. When I noticed the surveillance team outside our home, I decided to leave.
I received a phone call once from a guy I knew who was sympathetically warning me not to go out. He said that I had been identified and there were snipers that would shoot.
TakePart: Was it difficult for you to leave your life in Iran and the stories you had been working on for The New York Times?
Nazila: When I decided to leave, I had no idea I wouldn’t be able to go back. I thought I would leave for a few weeks and then I would go back. I hadn’t thought that the crackdown would continue and that more and more people would leave the country.
Even after I left, even when I postponed my return for a month, I thought eventually I’ll go back. It wasn’t until about three to four months afterwards that some of my friends who were arrested and released started telling me what they were told in prison. I learned after I left that there was an arrest warrant for me, and my friends said they were told our house was the center for plotting a revolution. So gradually, I was convinced I couldn’t go back.
TakePart: When did you feel that the line between reporting and your everyday life had been crossed?
Nazila: It was a dangerous time for everybody. I felt threatened as much as the protesters did. There was shooting, tear gas, violence. I mean it could happen to anyone. A lot of journalists were hurt, one photographer was stabbed and clearly reporters were targets because they were all warned not to be there. I received a phone call once from a guy I knew who was sympathetically warning me not to go out. He said that I had been identified and there were snipers that would shoot.
TakePart: Did you think when you started covering the election that it would turn into protests of this magnitude?
Nazila: No, none of us did. It was one of those things that spontaneously grew into such massive protests. Even two weeks before the election, I never thought people would come out in such an overwhelming force.
What’s happening in the prisons is catastrophic. People who were jailed for no reason two years ago are still in prison.
TakePart: How is life for you now in the States?
Nazila: It’s a hard life because you have to start all over again. I have a family, I have two children, I had a home and now I’m homeless. I’m going to be in Boston until the end of April and then I don’t know where I’m going to go. It’s difficult. It’s sort of up in the air and I think it’s going to take a while. I’m giving myself some time before I can have a home again.
TakePart: Is anyone reporting from Iran now and if so, is it still as unsafe to report from there as it was two years ago?
Nazila: It’s become very bad. There are only two prominent foreign reporters left in the country and when you look at the flow of stories that are coming out of Iran, they are very limited. They work under huge pressure. They’re movements are monitored, they’re constantly warned about what they’re doing and as a result, you don’t see many stories. When I talk to even Iranian reporters who work for Iran in publications, they say it’s never been that bad. I mean, just as an example, to use the term “Green Movement” is a crime and the paper can get shut down.
TakePart: What do you feel the international community can do to offer some support?
Nazila: Put pressure on the Iranian government over the violation of human rights. What’s happening in the prisons is catastrophic. People who were jailed for no reason two years ago are still in prison.
TakePart: What do you hope to see happen over the next 10 years in Iran?
Nazila: In 10 years time, I hope Iran will be a more democratic country. I have a hard time believing that all the potential for reform and all the talent there can be suppressed for a long time. It’s too ambitious to think that there would be a democracy in 10 years, but at least I hope it will be more democratic than now.