Merkel highlights plight of Iranian women at Berlin book event

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel has used a book event in Berlin to draw attention to the Iranian women's movement, warning that their struggle must not be overshadowed by the Iran conflict.

Speaking at the Berliner Ensemble theatre on Wednesday evening, the 71-year-old said the commitment and courage of Iranian women and girls should not be forgotten. 

Merkel was presenting "In the Streets of Tehran," a book published anonymously by an Iranian author using the name Nila.

The women and girls to whom Nila gives a voice, along with "their longing for freedom and human dignity, their resistance to oppression and repression" must not be forgotten, Merkel said.

Merkel, a member of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union, said she had initially hesitated to accept the event invitation because she is no longer an active politician. 

"I have neither the operational tasks nor operational means to influence developments in Iran for the benefit of the people in any way," she said.

But after reading the book "in one go," she said she decided to use her role as former chancellor to cast a light on the struggle of Iranian women.

The book was translated into German by writer Asal Dardan, who also attended the event. Dardan said the book's author had fled Iran and is now living in exile, although it remains unclear whether the book's publication was connected to her departure.

The literary and political chronicle recounts the mass protests of Iran's "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement in 2022, sparked by the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini - also known as Jina - who died in police custody after being arrested by the Iranian morality police.

Nila portrays Amini's death not as an isolated case but as the expression of a system of patriarchal and religious oppression. She describes her experience of the revolt, weaving scenes from daily life together with accounts of demonstrations, torture and executions.

Blending contemporary events with Persian history and mythology, the book depicts an Iran marked by state violence in a narrative of feminist resistance, highlighting how women took to the streets despite their fear.