This email came to me – I decided to translate the interview:
Wednesday June 24th – A Chat with one of the Plain-clothed club-wielders
“We get 200 dollars a day”
Four days after the elections, there have been anti-demonstration forces on the streets of Tehran whose accents are unrecognizable. Witnesses say they are not able to understand what they are saying. Some say they have openly heard Arabic being spoken by some. Yesterday, I had a chance to chat with one of the plain-clothed men in a sandwich shop.
Me: Salaam brother. How are you?
Him: God Bless you, fine, thank you.
Me: Where are you from?
Him: Torbat
Me: Torbat?
Him: Torbat-e Jam (a small town in the Eastern region of Iran close to the border of Afghanistan)
Me: How old are you?
Him: 36.
Me: Do you have a wife and kids?
Him: No. Wife and kids costs money. I am unemployed.
Me: Unemployed? Aren’t you a Basiji? Doesn’t the army give you a fixed salary?
Him: No. I am not a Basiji. I am unemployed.
Me: But you are working now, aren’t you?
Him: Yeah.
Me: Why do you have that club?
Him: They brought us here to hit the anti-revolutionaries. That’s why they gave us this club.
Me: Who gave it to you?
Him: Haji. He told me to hit in such a way that they don’t get up anymore. They’re traitors!
