link to original article:
automated text translation:
Iranian Women in Catalonia: “Women started the movement — they won’t steal the revolution from us”
The war by Israel and the United States against Iran is generating opposing feelings among the Iranian diaspora in Catalonia, especially after the death of Ali Khamenei.
By Clara Virgili Mas and Núria Jar
March 7, 2026 — 19:33
Updated March 7, 2026 — 19:34
Reading time: 4 minutes
The war in the Middle East is creating conflicting feelings among many Iranians in the diaspora. Fear of and rejection of war clash with the sense of liberation brought by the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the visible head of a totalitarian, repressive, and bloody regime.
This is how two Iranian women living in Catalonia describe it in conversations with 3CatInfo.
Mahsa Mohebali is a writer who arrived here four months ago thanks to the collective No Callarem, which, in collaboration with the international organization Artist at Risk, hosts artists in dangerous situations.
Shima, by contrast, has lived in Barcelona for ten years, having come to study.
How did you receive the news of Ali Khamenei’s death?
“We couldn’t believe it,” Mahsa says. “I told my husband: ‘Can you believe he’s dead?’ It’s like a miracle.”
At the same time, however, she remains cautious: “We’re afraid something bad might happen again. Nothing good can come from bombing a country.”
In an interview on El Suplement on Catalunya Ràdio, Shima explains that she celebrates Khamenei’s death:
“Why couldn’t my reality in life be different? Why do I have to suffer under a regime that has taken control of the entire country and we, the citizens, are the ones who must pay for it?”
“I’m not happy that someone died. I’m happy that evil might disappear from the world.”
Shima explains that the repression people face prevents her from communicating directly with her family to know whether they are safe. She receives news through a friend, but finding a way to connect to the internet in Iran — even just to send a short text — can bring retaliation.
“The Iranian government is sending SMS messages to people saying: ‘We have detected that your device connected to the free internet. Be careful, because next time there will be consequences,’” Shima explains.
Those consequences can range from being forced to sign documents, to fines, or even imprisonment, she says.
What do you think about the war and Spain’s position?
“I deeply hope they finish them all off,” Shima says, referring to the regime of the ayatollahs. She is emphatic about the need to liberate the country and says:
“I cannot understand the position of some people against the war without taking into account what the people of Iran are actually suffering.”
“The bad thing here is the Islamic Republic. ‘No to war,’ fine — but let’s open a path in international law so that the people of Iran can decide their own future,” she concludes.
Mahsa, however, says she likes the stance taken by the Spanish government:
“Someone had to stand firm against this madness,” she says.
At the same time, she criticizes the United States for not attacking earlier, before the repression of the January demonstrations.
“We know Trump is not thinking about Iranians, but he said: ‘Go out into the streets, help is on the way.’ But the help arrived a month later, when 20,000 or 30,000 people had already died.”
“Of course we don’t think Trump is our friend, but when you’re a leader or a president of a country you have a responsibility,” Mahsa explains.
What role do women play in Iran?
Both Shima and Mahsa say that Iranian women play a key role in the revolution and point to the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement — born after the death of Jina Amini for not wearing a veil — as the seed of the mobilization of Iranian society.
“The reality is that women started all of this — it must be said. This time we won’t let them steal the revolution from us. This is the women’s movement.”
Amini’s death at the hands of the morality police triggered an unprecedented wave of protests.
“My sisters have never been able to come visit me because they would pay the consequences of the regime,” Shima explains.
“Many people of my generation left the country. But my sisters, who are ten years younger than me, are different — they’re less afraid and they know how to confront the situation.”
How do you see the future of your country?
Mahsa says she is convinced that with the attacks by Israel and the United States, “the map of the Middle East will change.”
“I think there will be big changes,” she says. “I won’t say that something good will happen to Iran, but I was lucky that No Callarem helped us, and I feel the responsibility to be the voice of my people.”
Shima, meanwhile, believes that “the alternative to the ayatollahs is complicated because the opposition has always been heavily repressed in the country.”
“I would like a transition where we are free from the regime and where no one tells me how I must dress or how I must live.”
