Mana Neyestani's nightmare began in 2006, the day he drew a conversation between a child and a cockroach in the children's supplement of an Iranian weekly. The problem is that the cockroach drawn by Mana uses an Azeri word. The Azeris, a people of Turkish origin living in northern Iran, have long been oppressed by the central regime. For some, Mana's drawing is the straw that broke the camel's back and an excellent pretext to start a riot. The Tehran regime needs a scapegoat, it will be Mana. He and the magazine editor are taken to Prison 209, an unofficial section of Evin Prison, a real prison within a prison under the administration of MOIS, the Ministry of Intelligence and National Security. It's not a very pleasant place... While the two men endured weeks of isolation and interrogation, the Azeris organized numerous anti-government demonstrations. The authorities fired on the demonstrators, causing many victims. For the authorities, everything is Mana's fault. After two months of detention, Mana finally obtains the right to temporary release. He then decides to run away with his wife. After a long journey which took them through the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China, they managed to reach Malaysia to settle there before reaching Paris in 2010. Upsetting, An Iranian Metamorphosis is an apnea dive into the Kafkaesque totalitarian system put in place by the Iranian regime.