At least 35 Iranians have been killed in the protests that are sweeping the country following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. The young woman was snatched off the street two weeks ago by the morality police because too much of her hair was showing under her headscarf. Three days after her arrest, she was rushed to a hospital and put on a respirator after being severely beaten while in police custody.
What makes this protest movement different is that it’s the first one specifically about women and women’s rights. The protests also highlight the plight of the Kurds and other minorities in Iran. It’s a potent and combustible mix, and the protests, which began in the Kurdish provinces, have now spread to the entire country.
Video of #Iran protests tonight in Tehran. #MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/n6yYZO68T4
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) September 23, 2022
The death toll includes women like this.
1)
Ghazale Chelavi took to the streets to protest the killing of #MahsaAmini by hijab police in Iran but she herself got killed by security forces. Her friend told me that she got shot in the head in Amol city. She was 32 Yr old mountaineer full of life. Her family are shocked. pic.twitter.com/CF4JZCWYke— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 23, 2022
Masih Alinejad’s Twitter feed has nearly half a million followers. She is plugged into the protest movement and has been giving names and faces to the dead.
4)
This is a 18 year old woman also named Mahsa was killed by the Islamic republic in the protest over the brutal death of #MahsaAmini
Her name is Mehsa Mogoi. She got shot in Isfahan.
If the world don’t take action more people with get killed.#مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/3ER7Wq8JoQ— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 23, 2022
5)
Minu Majidi is mother of 2 children was killed by Iran’s security forces in protest over the murder of #MahsaAmini
She was killed in the city of Kermanshah.
The US government must stop negotiating with these savages. They must be tough on Islamic Republic.#مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/9proPzzvFs— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 23, 2022
“The U.S. government must stop negotiating with these savages,” she tweets. Not. Going. To. Happen.
Miss Alinejad makes a salient point.
This Iranian woman is getting ready to stand face to face to security forces. Iranian regime have guns and bullets but they scared of our hair.
They killed #MahsaAmini for a bit of hair. Let’s have a Hair Revolution.
Our hair will bring down Islamic dictators. #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/skjaPF63Ml— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 24, 2022
The regime organized “counter-demonstrations” as they always do. This time, the message to the anti-regime demonstrators couldn’t be clearer.
State-organised rallies took place in several Iranian cities on Friday to counter nationwide anti-government unrest triggered by the death of a woman in police custody, with marchers calling for the execution of “rioters”.
The pro-government marches followed the strongest warning yet from authorities when the army said it would confront “the enemies” behind the unrest – a move that could signal the kind of crackdown that has crushed protests in the past.
Sounds like “the people” want a violent crackdown by the government on the protesters. How very fortunate for the government that they have “the people” behind the coming mass murder.
Preceding every brutal crackdown on protesters in the last decade, authorities have blocked the internet. On Saturday, social media providers reported massive government interference in their applications.
Mobile networks have been largely shut down, according to internet watchdog Netblocks. And Meta has confirmed that Iranians are having trouble accessing some of its apps, including WhatsApp and Instagram. While it is not the total internet shutdown of 2019, tech experts say they are seeing a similar pattern.
“I don’t think there’s anything that would make us think that this is accidental,” said Doug Madory, the director of internet analysis at network intelligence company Kentik, Inc. “My understanding given the context is the objective was to stop people from sharing videos and communicating with the outside world.”
They won’t be able to stop all the news coming out of Iran. The protesters in the past have proven themselves to be very clever in avoiding internet censors. But with protesters unable to see what others across the country are doing, many will lose heart. As long as the demonstrators feel they’re part of a mass movement, they draw strength from one another. By choking off internet access to social media, the regime is able to isolate those wanting change.
The fanatics in Tehran have a lot of experience in extinguishing hope.
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