Fariba Nawa is an Afghan-American journalist based in Istanbul, Turkey. She is the author of Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman’s Journey through Afghanistan. Fariba Nawa’s journalistic work explores crucial issues such as exiled immigrants, women’s rights, and the global drug trade. In a recent interview with Zamaneh Media, she discussed her latest investigation, which sheds light on the threats faced by Iranian dissidents in Turkey following the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement. This movement, ignited by the tragic death of Jina Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s hijab police, has sparked widespread resistance, yet many of those who fled Iran for safety in Turkey now find themselves at risk of further persecution.
Nawa’s work is featured in a miniseries podcast called “Lethal Dissent” featured On Spec, an independent production created by a team of freelance journalists in Istanbul. In this series, she explores the dangerous lives of Iranian opposition figures, journalists, and dissidents who sought refuge in Turkey after the nationwide protests of 2022.
The idea for the podcast originated after Nawa covered the support protests for the movement in Iran, in Turkey. While many journalists could not report from within Iran due to security concerns, Nawa realized that numerous dissidents and journalists in Turkey were covering the unrest seeking refuge in Turkey. However, she soon realized that even Turkey was not safe for them. Dissidents faced threats of state abduction, kidnapping, harassment, and even murder, as the Iranian government exerted significant influence in Turkey.
Zamaneh Media, which supports the Lethal Dissent podcast series, spoke with Fariba Nawa about her investigative work and the challenges she faced in bringing the stories of Iranian dissidents to light. She shared with Zamaneh:
Iranian dissidents have always faced danger, but the situation in Turkey is different….The Iranian government has significant influence here, both within and outside the government, making it a place where dissidents don’t feel safe.
Turkey, with its proximity to Iran and role as a refuge for opposition activists, has become a key destination for those fleeing the regime. However, many have found themselves vulnerable to the very forces they sought to escape. In 2019, Nawa began working on her first mini-series which focused on exiled Iranian opposition in Turkey. The project took two years to complete: “The stories we uncovered were so intense, they felt like spy novels in the making,” Nawa recalls. She says however, these lives mattered to her: “These were real lives, and their struggles needed to be heard.”
Reporting from Turkey amidst Risk and Distrust
Fariba Nawa, has experience in a high-risk environment where trust is scarce and threats are constant. Her journey through these challenges, particularly in Turkey, highlights the difficulties Iranian journalists face within exiled communities.
“It wasn’t easy. Accessing the story and sources was one of the toughest challenges, but speaking the language helped.” Being a woman from Afghanistan herself, Fariba’s background was both an asset and a hindrance. While it allowed her to understand the nuances of the region, it also marked her as a potential outsider, often met with suspicion. “I was often accused of being an informant, a ‘parastoo-ye dowlat,'” she shares, referring to a term used to accuse women of being hired as spies to manipulate men. “I hadn’t even heard the term before, which showed how out of touch I was with the community.”
While covering a trial involving Turkish businessmen, corrupt officials, and Iranian defectors, Fariba had to take extra precautions to protect herself. “I never mentioned I lived in Turkey. I always said I was from America to stay safe.”
The risks she faced were constant. One of the most chilling threats she received was, “Toro tu gooni mindazim,” which translates to “We’ll put you in a body bag.” Fariba explains that the phrase is more accurately understood as “potato sack” and represents the Islamic Republic of Iran’s tactic of sending a strong message by abducting and forcibly returning those it targets in a symbolic potato sack: “They often lured people with fake passports, then arrested them at the border,” she adds, referencing cases like Ruhollah Zam and Habib Chaab, both dissidents who were abducted and taken back to Iran from Turkey, where they were later executed.
Trust, Risks, and Reporting Undercover
“The Iranian community here in Turkey has little trust—not just with outsiders, but with each other,” Nawa explains. The fractured trust between refugees and even among exiles made her job significantly more difficult.
Trust, was essential in Nawa’s work. It wasn’t something she could simply expect to receive, and it took time to build. Fariba explains, “I attended protests, like those after Jina Mahsa Amini’s killing, and checked in with people regularly. But trust didn’t always come easily.” She recounts one particularly difficult experience while reporting for Politico about a woman who had a difficult time trusting Nawa. Eventually, she had to walk away.
In many cases, Fariba found herself having to make difficult decisions to protect her sources. She recalls one situation where she chose not to reveal the identity of a 19-year-old rape survivor:
Exposing her name would have increased risk….Many refugees think sharing their stories helps them get asylum, but it often puts them in greater danger. You can only take so many calculated risks.
Nawa explains that the environment in Turkey complicates the situation, as it attracts various people from Iran: “There are different groups here—it’s a visa-free country, so you have tourists, pro-regime supporters, and dissidents hiding out.”
The risks of being visible were especially apparent during the Jina Mahsa Amini protests. “They were out protesting, which made it dangerous for them to be visible.” It was through these protests, and the help of friends she already had, that Nawa met most of the people she worked with. Her research also included contacts within Iran.
A Mobster-Dominated Field
Fariba Nawa reflects on the risks she faced in her work, admitting that she didn’t fully understand the dangers when she first started. “I tend to dive right in,” she says. It soon became clear that reporting on Iranian dissidents in Turkey involved confronting powerful mobsters.
Her past experience in the field, including writing the book Opium Nation about the drug trade, gave her confidence. “I’ve spent time with opium smugglers, and back then, it didn’t feel so hard….When it got too dangerous, I’d just change locations.”
Nawa hadn’t anticipated the specific risks she would face in Turkey while reporting on the conditions of Iranian dissidents. As an example, she talks about the involvement of an American woman in the story she was covering: “The American woman’s role is unclear, but she was connected to the people trying to kidnap Iranians,”As she tried to understand the woman’s involvement, things took a dangerous turn:
The American woman turned over all my information to the head of the kidnapping ring.That led to him calling me, knowing my number, and threatening to take me to the prosecutor—an obvious veiled threat.
Nawa quickly realized she was dealing with more than everyday criminals:
We’re dealing with mobsters here—people with mafia connections…These aren’t just thugs; some of them have businesses, and money is involved.
She was shocked to discover the true power of those behind the threats. “These people were in suits, driving BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes, sitting in courthouses making deals with Iranians.”
The Mysterious Death of Mohammad Shabani: “Lethal Dissent.”
The death of Iranian writer, poet, and dissident Mohammad Shabani in 2022 shocked those who knew him. After fleeing Iran due to persecution by state security forces, Shabani lived in exile in Turkey. He reportedly fell to his death from his apartment balcony under unusual circumstances. Although authorities found a suicide note, his friends could not believe the suicide story.
Fariba Nawa investigated Shabani’s death, questioning whether the Islamic Republic of Iran played a role. Shabani’s friend, Mehdi Hajjati, doubted the suicide theory, saying, “Never in a hopeful situation can someone kill themselves.” Shabani’s death occurred during the Women, Life, Freedom movement, a time of hope for dissidents. Nawa covers the story of Mohammad Shabani’s death in a podcast series titled “Lethal Dissent.”
The evidence is incomplete, and Fariba Nawa faces significant challenges in gathering information from the Turkish police. Everywhere she turns, she encounters closed doors. The key to this investigation is ambiguity—nothing is clear. Fariba speaks candidly about the uncertainty surrounding many of the cases she covers:
There’s a lot of ambiguity in these cases,” she reflects. “For example, one of the stories we covered was the death of poet Mohammad Shabani. Even now, I can’t say for certain whether someone from the regime was responsible for his death or if it was a personal vendetta that led to his killing in Turkey.
She explains that, at times, it’s nearly impossible to distinguish between a government-sponsored action and something more personal. “It’s not always as clear-cut as the regime targeting everyone.”
Despite these challenges, Nawa manages to obtain the suicide note attributed to Mohammad Shabani. She also acquires samples of his handwriting from a close friend. With this, a handwriting expert examines the note and delivers a detailed report: the handwriting on the suicide note does not match Shabani’s. At least in this part of the mystery, clarity emerges.
Impact of Nawa’s Reporting
When asked about the goal behind her work, Fariba is clear: “We were very focused on impact. For every journalist, the goal is awareness—people need to understand the extent of what’s happening.”
The threat to Iranian dissidents is more frequent than one might imagine, Nawa explains:
I spoke with a translator who works with lawyers representing dissidents, and she mentioned that 2-3 times a month, they receive reports of people being threatened, beaten, or terrorized online in Turkey…. There’s no sense of safety. People will receive pictures of their addresses, or they’ll be targeted online, and it’s clear that the regime can find anyone, anytime.
She adds that the immigration department in Turkey is infiltrated, making the asylum process risky. “Applying for asylum here effectively exposes you to the regime, which is terrifying.”
Fariba and her team made it a priority to help people escape these dangers:
Our goal was to help get people out of this dangerous situation. I’m happy to say that we managed to help three people get out of the system—though I wouldn’t say we directly ‘got them out.
Fariba considers their success in helping these individuals escape a significant achievement: “One of the men messaged me recently to say that the US will take him. It was a relief to hear, especially before any changes in US politics could jeopardize his chances, like if Trump were to be re-elected. That would be a game-changer.”
Beyond the immediate help and the direct awareness with the audience, Nawa says a broader goal is holding governments accountable:
As journalists, we want justice.
Fariba Nawa acknowledges that, despite the awareness and accountability journalists like herself strive to achieve, the geopolitical landscape can be dangerous for individuals. Reflecting on the June 2024 release of former Iranian prison official Hamid Nouri by Sweden, Nawa comments: “There have been spy trades, like the one Sweden made, where a mass murderer was released in exchange for a mere tourist.” Nouri, sentenced to life for his role in the 1988 mass execution of political prisoners in Iran, was released as part of a deal that saw Swedish EU official visiting Iran as a tourist Johan Floderus and dual Iranian-Swedish citizen Saeed Azizi freed from Tehran. Nouri, arrested in 2019 in Stockholm, faced charges for the torture and deaths of political prisoners. Yet, despite these grave charges, he was part of a diplomatic exchange. Nawa and her team remain resolute in their stance against such exchanges, urging the international community to stand firm. “We don’t know how often Turkey makes such deals,” she says, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more common than we think.”
