Protests in Iran are growing over the lack of answers from the government regarding the death of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested on the streets of Tehran when walking with her family. Mahsa Amini was picked up by the morality police for violating the strict Islamic dress code. She refused to wear the proper head covering. And in Iran, that’s an offense punishable by prison.
Ms. Amini was taken away, and the next time anyone outside of the government saw her was two days later in a hospital, being treated for what appeared to be the effects of a vicious beating. She died last Friday.
The Morality Police claim no one laid a hand on her. They say she died of a “heart attack.” No one believes that explanation, as evidenced by women all over Iran and the Middle East removing their head coverings and burning them.
Read the Original Report: Protests in Iran Over Murder of Woman by Religious Police
Some of the protests have been huge. The UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani also told reporters that Iranian security forces had reportedly responded to the massive protests that erupted over Amini’s death “with live ammunition.” At least four Iranians have been killed by security forces.
Amini was a Kurd and after her funeral on Saturday, violent protests erupted across her home province of Kurdistan.
Hijab-burning protest in Iran gathers momentum and spreads around the country. Iran witnesses unprecedented defiance. pic.twitter.com/cS7mcZ4txC
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) September 21, 2022
Protesters are taking to the streets around the country, particularly in the Kurdish region. There are between 8 million and 10 million Iranian Kurds.
Amini was buried Saturday in her hometown Saqez. Protests erupted there after her funeral and police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators on Saturday and Sunday. Several protesters were arrested.
On Sunday, police made arrests and fired tear gas in Amini’s home province of Kurdistan, where some 500 people had protested, some smashing car windows and torching rubbish bins.
On Monday, demonstrations were held in Tehran, including in several universities, and the second city Mashhad, according to the Fars and Tasnim news agencies.
Protesters in Tehran were dispersed by “police using batons and tear gas,” according to the Fars news agency.
The outburst of emotion is reminiscent of the outrage that suffused the country in 2009 when a young woman, Neda Soltan, was gunned down by a sniper during protests against the regime during the “Green Revolution,” where authorities clearly stole the 2009 presidential election for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Neda’s death became a catalyst for a movement that was only put down with absolute brute force. Thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds may have died, given the authorities were shooting live rounds into the thickest parts of the crowd demonstrating.
For the regime, it was a very near thing. This time, they are at least giving the appearance of concern. There are reports that the chief of the Morality Police has been suspended and the government of Ebrahim Raisi says it has opened an investigation.
Iran’s leaders have so far blamed “conspirators” for Amini’s death even thought it took place in one of the regime’s own cells, and also claimed that riots and protests were the work of foes, such as Saudi Arabia. The playbook is familiar, and so too are platitudes.
At the same time, semi-official state media has flagged an inquiry and claimed that senior officials, such as Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, were likely to have felt sympathy for Amini’s death, which had been earlier blamed on a heart condition, or epilepsy, neither of which the 22-year-old Kurd suffered from, according to her parents.
What’s different this time compared to Neda and 2009 is that there is a much stronger and better-organized street, and an expatriate community will organize dissent in foreign countries.
One thing is certain: the Supreme Leader and his friends are not sleeping well most nights.
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