Cousin of Iranian Mahsa Amini finds refuge in France following death threats

Iranian Kurdish activist Erfan Mortezai, the cousin of Mahsa Amini whose death in police custody sparked protests across Iran, has found protection in France. He talked to RFI about the sense of relief and continuing his fight against the regime in Tehran.

Mortezai arrived in Paris on Saturday after France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded favourably to his request to find a safe haven in Europe.

The Iranian Kurdish activist had been in Tehran's crosshairs even before he publicly denounced the death of his cousin Mahsa Amini.

He left Iran for Iraqi Kurdistan a year ago.
"One day I was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. When I was released, I fled to Iraq and joined the Iranian Communist Party," he told RFI's Théo Renaudon.

He became a peshmerga fighter with Komala – an Iranian Kurdish opposition party based in Iraq and which is seeking autonomy for Kurdish-populated areas of northwestern Iran.

Komala has conducted a long-running cross-border insurgency against the Tehran authorities, which see it as a terrorist organisation. 

They accuse it, along with other opposition groups, of fomenting the latest wave of protests from outside the country.

When Mahsa Amini died in police custody last September, Iranian authorities said the cause of death was a heart attack.

Mortezai relayed a different version – that her death followed a "violent blow to the head".

He also told international media about the anger her death had unleashed on the streets and how young Kurdish women knew they would have a better life if the regime fell.

His comments brought him death threats.
"As I spoke to foreign media, I received messages that I'd either be kidnapped and taken back to Iran at best, or killed straight out," he says, adding he'd been sent messages on Instagram saying "they were looking for me and will take me back to Iran".

Fearing for his life, he sought protection in Europe.

'My fight really begins'

He feels a huge sense of relief in being allowed to come to Paris.

"I'm very grateful and deeply touched to see people are sensitive to my plight," he told RFI. "It's reassuring to be able to go somewhere where I feel safe."

He says coming here has not only saved his life, he will be able to continue fighting the Islamic regime.

"In fact, this is where my fight really begins!," he says. "From now on, I want to fight with other opponents in France.

"And I hope that very soon, we will be able to celebrate Iran's liberation."

'Abysmal' relations

The fact Mortezai has received a French visa shows Paris is "positioning itself" in relation to Iran, says David Rigoulet-Roze, a specialist on the Middle East.

"In welcoming Mortezai, France has a responsibility to ensure his protection," he told Franceinfo radio.

Relations between France and Iran have worsened of late with France criticising Tehran's crackdown over the protests, its nuclear programme, and more recently outrage over a French satirical magazine publishing cartoons mocking the mollahs. 

"You could go as far as to say relations are abysmal," says Rigoulet-Roze.

The situation is further complicated given that seven French nationals are currently being held in Iranian jails.

• Macron condemns Iran's 'increasing aggressiveness' towards France

In  mid-November, President Macron welcomed four prominent women Iranian dissidents in Paris and spoke of his "respect and admiration" for Iranian women, "in the context of the revolution they are leading". 

Tehran condemned his comments as "regrettable and shameful".

While Mortezai will now officially apply for asylum and start learning French, not all Iranians are accorded asylum in France.

In November last year, an Iranian family living in the southern French city of Perpignan had its asylum application turned down for the fourth time, despite both parents facing the death penalty if deported to Tehran.