IRAN PROTEST UPDATES

 

Women-Life-Liberty – OpEd

 October 7, 2022  Eurasia Review 

By René Wadlow

The cry “Women-Life-Liberty!” is going up in many different parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  It is not possible to know in advance how strong the protests will be and what will be the specific reforms demanded. However the Government is worried. On 3 October, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Guide, justified the repression in a talk to the Military Academy and said that the mainifestations were the work of the U.S.A. and Israel.

The protests began on 13 Sep 2022 at the announcement of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Anini in police custody, having been arrested by the “morality police” for not having the proper dress.  She was an ethnic Kurd.  The protests began in the Kurdish areas but soon spread to all ethnic groups and many parts of the country.  However, the government is worried that support for the demonstrations from Kurds, especially some in Iraq, could grow and lead to multi-ethnic tensions. There have been  Iranian government attacks of Kurdish posts in Iraq.

Women have been a central focus of the social policy of the Islamic government.  Even before coming to power in 1979, Ayatollah Khomenini from his exile in France had said that the overly great liberty of women was a chief obstacle to his policies.  Repressive policies against women with compulsory veiling laws were quickly put into place. However, unlike the Taliban in Afghanistan, women were not barred from higher education.  It is estimated that some 65 percent of university students are women.  Many play important roles within society but must keep a low profile, dress according to the code and be under the control of a man, at least when visible in public.

Now the cry “Women – Life – Liberty” proclaimed by many women and some men indicates the changes in outlook.  Obviously, the government led by the Guide Ali Khamenei and the conservative President Ebrahim Raissi are worried.  The police, the Revolutionary Guards, and other paramilitary forces have been called out.  Some protesters have been killed,  an estimated 100, others wounded.  The number of arrested is unknown.  Journalists have been prevented from reporting, and internet services have been cut or are irregular.  Thus there are few photos of the demonstrations.

There have been waves of protests in Iran before without bringing about major changes in policy. However, some observers believe that there is a new spirit in these protests largely led by youth.   “Women – Life – Liberty” may be the wave of the future and should be watched closely.

René Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

Protests in Iran. Photo Credit: The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI)

Iranian schoolgirls come to fore in protests over Mahsa Amini’s death

Agencies Published October 6, 2022  

(L to R) Actors Marion Cotillard, Juliette Binoche and Swedish lawmaker Abir Al-Sahlani cut their hair in solidarity with Iranian protesters.—Reuters

PARIS: Iranian schoolgirls have come to the fore in protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, removing their hijabs and staging sporadic rallies in defiance of a lethal crackdown by the security forces.

Amini, 22, was pronounced dead days after the notorious morality pol­i­ce detained the Iranian Kurd last month for allegedly breaching the Isla­mic republic’s strict dress code for women.

Anger flared at her funeral and spread to become the biggest wave of protests to rock Iran in almost three years, despite the backlash by the security forces that has killed scores and seen hundreds arrested.

Students rallied at the weekend before being confronted by riot police who cornered them in an underground car park of Tehran’s prestigious Sharif University of Technology before hauling them away.

Bare-headed students shout anti-regime slogans, deface images of clerical state’s leaders

Schoolgirls have since taken up the baton around the country, removing their hijabs, shouting anti-regime slogans and defacing images of the clerical state’s leaders.

“Death to the dictator,” a group of bare-headed girls is heard chanting in reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they force a man, reportedly the principal, out of a school in Karaj, west of Tehran, on Monday in a video verified by AFP. Another group of girls sang “Woman, Life, Freedom”, as they marched through the Karaj neighbourhood of Gohardasht.

Schoolgirls were also seen leaving classrooms and appearing in flash-mob protests to avoid detection, in other footage shared online.

One boisterous group of girls were yelling “Get lost, Basiji”, in reference to the paramilitary force, at a man standing at a podium in the southern city of Shiraz, in a video shared by the 1500tasvir social media channel.

AFP has been unable to independently verify the footage.

Singer silenced

In a widening crackdown, Iran has rounded up high profile supporters of the movement and blocked social media access.

On Tuesday night, Iranian pop singer Shervin Hajipour, who was arrested after his song in support of the protests went viral and became an anthem for the movement, was freed on bail.

“I’m here to say I’m okay. But I am sorry that some particular movements based outside of Iran — which I have had no relations with — made some improper political uses of this song,” he told his 1.9 million Instagram followers shortly after his release.

Iran’s judiciary, meanwhile, denied there was any link between the death of teenage girl Nika Shakrami and the protests, after reports she was killed during the unrest. BBC Persian and Iran Wire said authorities had taken possession of her body and secretly buried her on Monday to avoid a funeral that could spark more protests.

Read: Iran and the hijab

At least 92 protesters have been killed in the unrest, according to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR). Amnesty International has confirmed 53 deaths, while Fars news agency put the death toll at “around 60” last week. At least 12 security personnel have been reported killed.

More than 1,000 have been arrested, but the judiciary said more than 620 protesters had been released from jail in Tehran province alone.

Another 63 people were killed last week when security forces “bloodily suppressed” a protest in Zahedan, near Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan, said IHR.

The clashes erupted after Friday prayers during protests sparked by accusations a police chief in the region had raped a teenage girl of the Baluch Sunni minority, it said. The crackdown has drawn global condemnation.

On Tuesday, the European Union joined the United States in warning that it was looking to impose tough new sanctions on Iran over the bloody crackdown. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the EU that it could expect “reciprocal action”.

UK envoy summoned

On Wednesday, Iran summoned British ambassador Simon Shercliff to hear a protest over “meddlesome statements”.

Meanwhile, A Swedish member of the European Parliament lopped off her hair during a speech in the EU assembly in solidarity with anti-government demonstrations in Iran ignited by the death in morality police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

“Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors. Until the women of Iran are free we are going to stand with you,” Iraqi-born Abir Al-Sahlani said in the parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday evening. Then, taking a pair of scissors, she said “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” — Kurdish for “Woman, Life, Freed­om” — as she snipped off her ponytail.

Leading French actresses including Juliette Binoche and Isabelle Huppert have also cut locks of hair in protest over Amini’s death after she was arrested in Tehran on Sept. 13 for “inappropriate attire”.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2022