Women removing and burning hijabs (veils) in Iran: a representation of the social crisis in the country. And this is just one of the demonstrations that have taken place in Iranian cities in recent days. So far, the deaths of 31 people, including civilians and police, have been announced in the nightly protests against the “police of morals” or “police of customs”, as this security sector in the country is called.
Last weekend, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died while being arrested. The crime she committed, according to the authorities, was that of “dressing inappropriately” by not wearing a hijab. According to witnesses, she was tortured and executed.
Protesters in the capital Tehran and other cities across the country have blocked traffic, set fire to garbage cans and police vehicles, hurled stones at security forces and shouted anti-government messages at protests in recent nights, according to the official IRNA news agency.
“No to the scarf, no to the turban, yes to freedom and equality,” protesters shouted. The slogan was echoed in solidarity protests in other major cities across the country and abroad, especially in New York and Istanbul.
These demonstrations constitute “a very important shock” in Iran, “it is a social crisis” in an “increasingly secularized” society, David Rigoulet-Roze, an associate researcher at Iris, told AFP.
“It’s a whole project of society that is put to the test. There is hesitation on the part of the authorities about the procedure to follow in the face of this movement”, explained the researcher.
Internet is cut off in Iran
Authorities respond by taking social media offline. On Wednesday (21), Instagram and WhatsApp were inaccessible, according to the Iranian agency Fars, which reports from the government’s point of view. The measure would have been taken because of “actions carried out by counterrevolutionaries, in an offensive to national security through these social networks”, announced Fars.
Instagram and WhatsApp have been the most used apps in Iran since the blocking of platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and TikTok in recent years. In addition, internet access is filtered or restricted by the authorities.
As the director of the North Africa and Middle East Observatory of the Jean Jaurès Foundation, Farid Vahid, announced on his social networks, Iranian families have received the following messages in recent days: “If you don’t hear from us later, know that they cut off the internet so we can no longer be heard! So please help us”.
Who are the women who inspire the demonstrations?
Mahsa Amini, from the Kurdistan region, was arrested on 13 September in Tehran for “wearing inappropriate clothing” by the morality police, the unit responsible for enforcing the dress code in the Islamic Republic. Activists said the young woman was shot to the head after suffering torture, an allegation denied by authorities who announced an investigation.
In Iran, women are required to cover their hair, and the customs police also forbid them from showing their legs, wearing tight pants, hole-punched jeans and colorful clothing.
Homosexuality is also considered a crime in the country. A week before the Mahsa Amini case, two lesbians were sentenced to death for “promoting homosexuality” as well as Christianity. They were remembered by civilians in recent demonstrations.
Zahra Sedighi Hamedani, 31, and Elham Chubdar, 24, were tried by a court in the northwestern city of Urmía, according to the Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw.
The Judicial Authority confirmed that they were convicted of “spreading corruption on Earth” – a charge often brought against defendants deemed to have broken the country’s sharia laws. It is the most serious charge in the Iranian penal code.
Beyond Morality: Ethnic Persecution, Economic and Political Crisis
Professor and Doctor in History Andrew Traumman, from Unicuritiba, warned of an aggravating factor in these stories that inspired the latest demonstrations. “Both Mahsa and Zahra and Elham are Kurds. There is an issue that goes beyond moralism, which is the ethnic issue, a persecution of ethnic minorities in Iran,” he highlighted.
The Kurdish people historically aspire to gain political and territorial independence from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
According to the expert, who is the author of books on the Islamic Republic of Iran published by publishers Paço Editorial and Autografia, the movement in the country this week has numerous causes and is a consequence of years of dissatisfaction among ethnic minorities, women and society. as a whole.
The green wave, which questioned Mahmoud’s re-election Ahmadinejad, in 2009, was, according to him, the kick-off of a wave of insurgencies sweeping the country.
In recent years, Iran has experienced economic problems as well, especially the failure of the nuclear deal signed with the West in 2015 – three years later, then-US President Donald Trump backtracked on the compromise, claiming that “the Iranian regime is the main country sponsoring terrorism”, and reinstated sanctions. A new agreement is being negotiated since last year.
The election of Ebrahim Raisi this year also triggered reactions in the population. “Known for provoking torture and the disappearance of people, he has developed a government that is quite regressive in terms of customs,” Traumann recalled. Among the habits imposed and reinforced by the current president, is the use of veils and even rules that restrict pets.
The new protests, therefore, are the culmination of what has been going on for at least 13 years in Iran: the expression of popular dissatisfaction. “There are demonstrations and the government represses them with all their strength, so they are silenced. We need to see carefully whether these protests now will have a concrete result or whether they will end up being smothered by the government”, concluded Traumann.
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