![\"About](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/09250b97820013e566129650bdba6f437597a9ab\/0_0_6000_3600\/master\/6000.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none\")
Rights and freedom<\/a>Transnational repression<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n I<\/strong>n September 2022, Soudabeh, an Iranian student studying in Manchester, was frantically searching for an update on the health of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in hospital in Tehran<\/a> after being detained by police for allegedly breaking the country\u2019s strict dress code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The news of Amini\u2019s death, the nationwide protests<\/a> that followed and the plight of women in her home country kept Soudabeh \u2013 who asked to be identified by her first name only \u2013 awake at night. \u201cThat\u2019s the moment I realised we had to do more to tell the people of the world what\u2019s happening inside Iran,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After helping to organise protests outside Manchester University and in St Peter\u2019s Square, Soudabeh held a sit-in protest in front of the Islamic Centre in Manchester. This year, an MP said in parliament that the Islamic Centre of England \u201cis accused of having links to the Iranian regime<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon Soudabeh started receiving threats online and intimidation in person for her role in organising the protests. At one of the protests someone she didn\u2019t recognise whispered to her the names of her family members. \u201cThey would tell us our address back home [in Iran] and then ask: \u2018Do you want your sister to face the consequences of your actions here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soudabeh says several people representing the Islamic Centre also confronted her and other protesters. The Islamic Centre categorically deny accusations of threats and physical violence by its staff or employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We may not be killed and shot on the streets here, but the sense of safety that I should feel here \u2013 I simply don\u2019t feel<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cTwo Iranian men walked out from the building and told us in Farsi: \u2018Just try entering this building and I will kill you like a dog,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cEven though I filed a complaint with the police, I still feel unsafe even walking out and doing groceries. We may not be killed and shot on the streets here, but the sense of safety that I should feel here, I simply don\u2019t [feel].<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNone of us [who protested] can go back to Iran and we\u2019re not safe in this country either unless the government takes steps to identify those threatening us on behalf of the Islamic Republic,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guardian has spoken to a number of Iranians living in the UK who have taken part in or organised protests in the UK over the past year since Amini\u2019s death and continue to fear for their lives. Iran is increasingly targeting people outside its borders in a tactic known as transnational repression<\/a>, which aims to stifle debate or criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week<\/a>, the foreign secretary, David Cameron, said the Iranian regime continued to \u201cthreaten people on UK soil\u201d, and that there had been at least 15 credible threats to kill or kidnap British nationals and others living in the UK since the beginning of 2022. The regime has called publicly for the killing of these individuals and in some cases detained and harassed their families in Iran, a UK government statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BBC staff in London told the Guardian<\/a> this year that they fear walking outside alone after being harassed by the Iranian authorities, with family members based in Iran also being detained arbitrarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A civil rights activist from the human rights group United for Mahsa says many activists have had to pause their activities or work anonymously due to the threats to their lives. \u201cI look over my shoulder all the time ever since the diaspora started receiving online and offline threats from pro-regime individuals living inside this country,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t feel safe online or on the streets. The Islamic Republic runs a very strong online campaign to target dissidents in the west.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n British-Iranian activist and former political prisoner Vahid Beheshti has been staging an ongoing protest<\/a> outside the Foreign Office in London calling for Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards to be labelled as a terror group<\/a>. He says a fatwa had been issued against him and he was recently threatened by someone who told him: \u201cI am going to cut your neck today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beheshti says the man was later arrested by the police, who told him a knife was found during the arrest. \u201cThis is what we are living through here every day. We Iranians are living with a gun pointed at our heads. I told the police here that every day I feel like it\u2019s my last day.\u201dQuick Guide<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the activists interviewed by the Guardian say they have also been victims of stalking, online doxing and character assassinations led by those supporting the regime in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy very first understanding of going to protests in London was that I\u2019d wear sunglasses, a mask and a hat to avoid being identified, not because of repercussions potentially on myself, but for repercussions on my family, if I was identified,\u201d says Donya, 23, who also wanted to be identified only by her first name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/ea2558aa487b142b195f45ccb9c7e554ff93ceb0\/0_184_2926_2924\/master\/2926.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none\")
Transnational repression<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/d1f8f5913affaffa3010b6f31fc13ca215fc1346\/0_71_5060_3038\/master\/5060.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=f8d8c0ee5d10f43dd777d0b9ada636e0\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n