Iran’s Green Movement

Iranian high school student Sohrab Arabi joined millions, of others for a peaceful protest; he never came back.

Platter of pakoras, samosas, and onion fritters Nadia Ghattas/The Epoch Times

Like most other Iranian youth his age, high school student Sohrab Arabi was studying hard for the national university exam, or the Konkoor, one of the most crucial phases that any Iranian student pursuing higher education goes through in life.

But this year, things were different for the 19-year-old. The entire country, it seemed, was engaged in the campaigns leading up to the tenth presidential elections.

Alongside his studies, Sohrab and his mother, older brothers, and friends would take part in rallies and activities in support of the reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, whose youth-driven campaign had garnered a considerable support throughout the country.

One day after the elections, to Sohrab’s and many other pro-reform voters’ disappointment, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was named the winner of the election with a landslide victory.

It didn’t take too long for furies to burn up among the reformist camp and reformist candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi alleged wide-scale election fraud. In support of these candidates, many people took to the streets, and so did Sohrab.