TULSA, Okla. — A young Iranian woman living in Oklahoma said she hopes widespread protests will bring change to her home country.

For the past few weeks in Iran, police have been clashing with anti-government demonstrators. FOX23 spoke with a local Iranian woman to find out why there is an uprising now.

The young woman wanted to keep her identity secret because she’s worried that by speaking out her family in Iran might face repercussions.

“They will go after my family, they might imprison them, they might even torture them,” she said.

She said she just wants to same freedoms as any other person in the U.S., but that’s currently impossible in her home country because of its strict laws.

“Some of the things that are prohibited is for the whole nation, is not only for woman, like drinking, or dancing in public or partying in public,” she said.

The laws women face are especially strict.

“They have to wear hijab all the time, and the woman rights are, you can say, next to non-existent in Iran, especially when you marry,” she said.

She also said no one is allowed to speak out against the government but that’s exactly what many people are doing there. In the last few weeks protests have broken out across Iran with many woman apparently cutting their hair and burning their hijabs.

It’s reported around 200 people have died, including children.

“People had enough I think, enough is enough, we are at that point that our rage is much bigger than our fears,” she said.

The protests were sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. She was reportedly detained by the morality police for not properly wearing her head scarf.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets in support across the world. In Tulsa, hundreds of protestors gathered at the Center of the Universe a few weeks ago in support of the uprisings in Iran.

“We wanted to show our support for the people of Iran who are inside the country right now and also it was good because we wanted the people here to know, to know what’s happening in a country far far away,” she said.

“We are hoping, really hoping this time, you know, we would never give up this fight, we will never give up on this country,” she also said.

She said she feels like it’s her duty to tell the world the protestors message.

She said she wants people to know what’s happening.

She said they don’t want things to stay as they are in Iran – they want change to the regime.

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