The secret graffiti grandma of Tehran

This piece first appeared in the Winter 2025 issue of Index on Censorship, Gen Z is revolting: Why the world’s youth will not be silenced, published on 18 December 2025. 

She leaves before dawn, when Tehran is at its quietest. Sara, mother of three and grandmother of two, fingers the metal nozzles in her tote bag to keep the spray cans from rattling. She maps the alleyways in her head, the blind corners and burned-out bulbs, the CCTV arcs and the places where a single shouted word can turn a street into an alarm.