The death of Eli*, a 39-year-old family member of Payam*, has left an Iranian-Australian community in Brisbane reeling with grief and rage. Payam, who left Iran at age 17 to seek a life of freedom in Australia, has been watching the unfolding brutality in his home country with growing unease.
According to Payam, Eli was standing next to her older sister during a protest in Karaj, about 44km from Tehran, when she was shot dead on 8 January. The regime’s crackdown on the widespread anti-government demonstrations that have swept through Iran over the past two weeks has claimed many lives, including Eli’s.
Payam received the devastating news from his cousin in Iran, who was required to open hundreds of body bags before finding Eli’s remains. “She found her after 700 bodies,” Payam says, visibly shaken. “She was exhausted and couldn’t stop crying as she looked at the faces of people shot. There was blood everywhere. She had to look at every single one of them.”
The regime’s callous treatment of the victims’ families has only added to the anguish. Payam says the authorities gave Eli’s immediate family two options: pay the equivalent of $9,000 to retrieve her body, or sign a form stating that she was part of the regime and killed by civilians, and they would not be charged. “That was the only two options,” he says, his voice laced with anger and disgust.
Payam’s family borrowed money to pay for Eli’s body to be returned, a decision he says was driven by a mix of grief and a desire to help from outside Iran. “I can’t really explain how we feel about that. It’s really the anger and hate about the regime because they keep doing these things to people in Iran,” he says. “It just makes us more angry and more wanting to help from outside of Iran.”
The tragedy has left Payam and other members of Australia’s Iranian community grappling with a range of emotions. “We can’t sleep properly at night. We just keep waking up in the middle of the night, keep looking at the news,” he says.
As the protests continue to rock Iran, Payam fears for the safety of his family members still living under the authoritarian regime. His sisters, who have also been participating in the demonstrations, have become a source of both pride and concern. “They [young people] want freedom as well as a good life, not waking up every day and see something doubled [in price] overnight. Pretty much everyone in Iran has something in common, which is [the desire] to have a better life.”
The loss of Eli has only strengthened Payam’s resolve to support the Iranian people’s fight for freedom and justice. “It just makes us more angry and more wanting to help from outside of Iran,” he says, his voice tinged with a determination to honour his slain relative’s memory.
*Names have been changed due to safety concerns for family members.