Mahsa Amini protests

For a chronological guide to this subject, see Timeline of the Mahsa Amini protests.

Mahsa Amini protests
Part of the 2021–2022 Iranian protests, Iranian protests against compulsory hijab, and the aftermath of the death of Mahsa Amini
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Date	16 September 2022 – (2022-09-16 – ) ()
Location	Iran, with solidarity rallies worldwide
Caused by	Death of Mahsa Amini Mandatory hijab law since 1979 Crackdowns against the Iranian Democracy Movement and Girls of Enghelab protests, inspiring continued protests against the government Human rights abuses against women and girls perpetrated by the Morality Police Killing of hundreds of protesters, fueling anger
Goals	Dismantlement of the Islamic Republic of Iran The protection of civil and political rights, including women's rights Revoking mandatory religious requirements, such as the mandatory hijab law Dissolution of the Morality Police Prosecuting the killers of Mahsa Amini Police and government reforms
Methods	Demonstrations Strikes Civil disobedience including defiance of hijab laws
Status	Ongoing
Parties to the civil conflict
Iranian protesters Support by most anti–Islamic Republic organizations Islamic Republic FARAJA IRGC Basij Plainclothes Riot police Morality police Iranian counter-protesters
Lead figures
No centralized leadership Ali Khamenei Ebrahim Raisi Ahmad Vahidi Ali Shamkhani Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf Hossein Ashtari Abdolrahim Mousavi Habibollah Sayyari Hossein Salami Mohammad Reza Naqdi
Units involved
Number
Casualties and losses
Casualties
Death(s)	At least 326 protesters including 43 minors killed (Iran Human Rights) as of 12 November 336 protesters including 52 minors killed, as well as 39 security force members (HRANA), as of 11 November At least 41 killed (state media) as of 24 September See casualties for details.
Injuries	898+ as of 26 September
Arrested	nearly 15,100 (HRANA, as of 11 November). As of 4 November, over 14,000 were arrested throughout 134 cities and towns, and at 132 universities (HRANA) See detainees for notable cases.

An ongoing series of protests and civil unrest against the government of Iran began in Tehran on 16 September 2022 as a reaction to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini (Persian: مهسا امینی‎‎), who had been arrested by the Guidance Patrol for wearing an "improper" hijab — in violation of Iran's mandatory hijab law — while visiting Tehran from Saqqez. According to eyewitnesses, Amini had been severely beaten by Guidance Patrol officers, an assertion denied by Iranian authorities.

The protests quickly spread from Amini's hometown of Saqqez to other cities in the province of Kurdistan and to other provinces within Iran. In response to these demonstrations, beginning on 19 September the Iranian government implemented regional shutdowns of Internet access. As protests grew, a widespread Internet blackout was imposed along with nationwide restrictions on social media. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the widespread unrest not only as "riots" but also as an "hybrid war" caused by foreign states and dissidents abroad. Women, including schoolchildren, played a key role in the demonstrations. Whereas earlier major protests, which were violently quelled by the Iranian government, focused on election results or economic woes, the 2022 protests, besides increased rights for women, had one main demand: the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. The protests were the biggest threat to the government since the 1979 Islamic revolution, according to The Guardian. Unlike the 2019–2020 protests, the 2022 protests were "nationwide, spread across social classes, universities, the streets [and] schools".

According to the non-profit organization Iran Human Rights, as of 12 November 2022 at least 326 people including 43 children had been killed as a result of the government's intervention in the protests, involving tear gas and gunfire, making the protests the deadliest since the 2019–2020 protests that resulted in more than 1,500 fatalities. This response to the protests was widely condemned.

Background

Further information: Death of Mahsa Amini and Hijab in Iran

Since shortly after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iranian women have been legally required to completely cover their hair in public with a hijab. Enforcement of the unpopular law was eased during the 2013–2021 tenure of President Rouhani, but was then intensified under Rouhani's successor, the hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, was arrested by the Guidance Patrol on 14 September 2022 because of an "improper hijab." The police were accused of beating her and inflicting a fatal head injury; Amini was pronounced dead on 16 September.

Protests

See also: Timeline of the Mahsa Amini protests

Initial protests, mostly led by women, demanded an end to the mandatory hijab; these protests evolved into a national revolt. The protests became more widespread than those of 2009, 2017, and 2019, encompassing even Islamic Republic power bases such as the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom. Unlike some previous protests, the new protests involved both urban middle classes and rural working areas. In addition, schoolgirls demonstrated in numbers for the first time. While continuing to protest Amini's death and demanding an end to the mandatory hijab, Iranians also advocated for wider freedoms and women's rights, and protested against the morality police, the Ayatollah, and the theocratic regime.

Unlike many previous Iranian protests, protestors appear to be demanding a wholesale change in government rather than limiting themselves to incremental reforms. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, economic hardship and poor living conditions contributed to the growth of the protests. The New York Times itemized Iranian grievances such as "soaring prices, high unemployment, corruption, (and) political repression", and identified the poor Iranian economy as a major force behind the protests; according to an Iranian report in August 2021, a third of Iranians live in poverty. Abdolreza Davari, a conservative analyst, has quoted a statistic that 95 percent of Iranians are "worried about their livelihoods today and for their and their children's future." Only 15% of Iranians in the job market are women. Iran ranked 143rd out of 146 countries in the 2022 WEF Gender Gap Report, due in part to prohibitions on female membership in powerful government organizations.

In response to the protests, people held demonstrations in support of the government across several cities in Iran, in an attempt to counter the protests. The Iranian government referred to these counter-protests as "spontaneous". The pro-government protesters called for the anti-government protesters to be executed, and referred to them as "Israel's soldiers" whilst shouting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", reflecting Iran's clerical rulers' usual narrative of putting the blame of the unrest on foreign countries.

Media coverage has been hampered by both new and continued Iranian restrictions on speech, including Internet shutdowns and arrests of journalists. While NBC News has retained a correspondent in Tehran, most Western outlets have had to rely on their networks of contacts, on human rights groups, and on social media content. According to BBC News, an Iranian government disinformation campaign has cranked out social media videos and fake interviews, and has also attempted to trick Western media into reporting falsehoods: "They can then say foreign media is reporting fake news".

Actions by protesters

Protesters often stage small and quick, but numerous, "flash mob" gatherings. Drivers have blocked streets with their cars to slow down security forces; roads have also been blocked by dumpster bins or even overturned police cars. Security forces on motorbikes cut through traffic, with passengers firing on protesters. In some cases security forces used paintballs to mark demonstrators; some demonstrators packed extra clothes to replace painted clothes, wore masks to avoid identification, or dismantled public security cameras. Some protesters chanted from windows or rooftops. Symbolic protests include dyeing fountains blood-red, and women discarding and burning hijab or cutting their hair in public. Since turbans are viewed as a symbol of the regime, some activists engaged in "turban throwing" (knocking the turbans off of "privileged" Iranian clerics on the street and running away); reformers such as Ahmad Zaidabadi criticized the trend, and said the practice can harass uninvolved scholars.

Civil boycotts

Some university teachers and professors declared their support for the student movement by boycotting classes or resigning. They included Nasrollah Hekmat (Shahid Beheshti University), Ammar Ashoori (Islamic Azad University), Lili Galehdaran (Shiraz Art University) and Gholamreza Shahbazi (Art and Soureh Universities), together with Alireza Bahraini, Shahram Khazaei, and Azin Movahed (Sharif University of Technology, Tehran).

Slogans

File:زن زندگی آزادی.jpg

"Woman, life, freedom"; One of the main slogans of the protesters

Demonstrators used slogans and banners that directly criticized the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Khamenei. Protesters showed strong opposition to human rights violations perpetrated by Iran's Guidance Patrol. "Woman, Life, Freedom" (Persian: زن، زندگی، آزادی‎‎, Kurdish: ژن، ژیان، ئازادی‎) is the signature slogan of the protests.

Casualties

On 20 September, Esmail Zarei Kousha, governor of the northwestern Kurdistan province, confirmed the first three deaths in the protests, and stated that they were not killed by security forces. As of 26 September, a count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 13 dead, while state-controlled television news suggested that at least 41 had been killed, including protesters and police. According to Iran Human Rights, as of 12 November, at least 326 people had been killed, including women and at least 43 children. According to Human Rights Activists in Iran, as of 11 November, 336 protesters including 52 minors have been killed. Death certificates obtained by the organization confirm that many died from live bullets. The Oslo-based human rights organization however stated that with the current Internet blackouts, it was difficult to get accurate and up-to-date figures. According to the Human Rights Activists in Iran organization, at least 233 protesters have been killed by regime forces as of 14 October. This figure includes 32 children. In addition to Amini herself, the death of several women protesters were widely reported by the media, including Nika Shakarami, Hadis Najafi and Sarina Esmailzadeh. According to the families of deceased protesters, Iranian authorities have covered up killings of protesters by pressuring the families of victims, and by fabricating reports of suicides or car accidents.

By 25 September, five Basij members had been killed by protesters. By 26 October, when an IRGC officer was killed in Malayer, 33 security force members had been killed. By 5 November, 38 security force members had been killed.

Iran's security forces in tandem with state media have falsely tried to claim that several killed protesters were actually loyalist Basij militiamen killed by the "rioters", and have put pressure on their families with death threats if they do not cooperate.

Number of casualties based on province

File:2022 Iran Protests (Killed).svg

Number of protesters killed by province as of 5 November

Arrests

Hundreds of women have been detained and abused by the authorities. The authorities used torture and ill-treatment to obtain false confessions from protesters who had been arrested. As of 13 October 2022, over a thousand people have been arrested, according to Iranian state news. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least forty journalists have been detained. Anonymous sources cited by CBS News have stated that many protesters decline to seek medical assistance due to a reasonable fear of imprisonment.

It was reported on 1 November that Iran had charged about a thousand people in Tehran for their alleged involvement in the protests and was holding public trials against the accused. However, reporting from the state aligned news agency ISNA claimed that only 315 people were indicted in Tehran with more than 700 others indicted in other provinces. An informal network of activists inside Iran, labeled the Volunteer Committee for Monitoring the Situation of Detainees has alleged that as of 30 October intelligence agencies reported the arrest of 130 human rights defenders, 38 women's rights advocates, 36 political activists, 19 lawyers and 38 journalists along with citizen protestors. An additional count of 308 university students and 44 minors that had been arrested by Iranian forces was also released by the organization.

In November 2022, a Revolutionary Court in Tehran issued its first death sentence to one of the protestors on the charge of "enmity against God". In the same month, a false claim that Iran had ordered the mass execution of over 15,000 protesters was shared on social media, including by actresses Trudie Styler, Sophie Turner and Viola Davis, and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. The original source of the claim was Newsweek. The number was actually derived from estimates from a United Nations human rights rapporteur and other human rights organisations of how many people were detained in Iran in connection with the protests, and Newsweek retracted the underlying claim leading to the inference that the people faced a death sentence.

Response by Iranian government

The government seeks to prevent the protesters from coordinating and from coming together under a unified leadership. Because professional militaries sometimes refuse to attack their own people, Iran prefers to rely on the Basij to enforce domestic order against protestors. With technological support from China and Russia, Iran maintains the capability to shut down Internet and cellphone services. If protestors bring phones and neglect to disable tracking, the government attempts to track and identify protestors through the phones' GPS. CNN interviews have charged Iran with tactics such as forced confessions, threats to uninvolved family members, and torture, including electric shocks, controlled drowning, and mock execution.

Internet blackouts

See also: 2019 Internet blackout in Iran

Beginning on 19 September, the Iranian government initially cut off Internet access regionally, in order to prevent images and video of the protests from reaching a world-wide audience, and to hinder protesters from organizing effectively, blocking popular social media channels Instagram and WhatsApp in Saqqez and Sanandaj for a few days. With the spread of demonstrations to over 80 cities across the country, the government repeatedly shutdown mobile networks. According to Internet monitoring group NetBlocks, these are "the most severe internet restrictions since the November 2019 massacre", when during the 2019–2020 protests the Internet was completely shut down for a week, and 1,500 protesters were killed by government forces.

Prior to the protests, access to social media was already heavily restricted. Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and Twitter were all previously blocked. Beginning on 21 September, Instagram and WhatsApp were also blocked nationwide. Iranian state media has said the imposed restrictions are due to "national security" concerns. As of 24 September, access to Skype has reportedly been blocked. As of 29 September, the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, and LinkedIn have also been blocked. WhatsApp stated that they are working to keep Iranian users connected and would not block Iranian phone numbers. However, multiple monitoring groups have documented rolling connectivity blackouts, affecting Iran's largest mobile carriers, with a "curfew-style pattern of disruptions" that lasts for 12 hours at a time. It has also been reported that text messages are being filtered, and communications which mention Amini's name are blocked from delivery to the intended recipient.

Despite the nationwide Internet blackouts, some videos of the events were distributed internationally. A small group of people from both inside and outside of Iran run the 1500tasvir Instagram account, which, As of October 2022, had over 450,000 followers. The group stated that on typical days they received more than 1,000 videos and published dozens. They posted video to their Twitter accounts. One member of the 1500tasvir team described the impact of Internet shutdowns as "extraordinary", and negatively impacting protests, saying that "When you [can] ... see other people feel the same way, you get more brave" but "When the internet is cut off ... you feel alone".

In response to Iran's Internet blackouts, Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, asked the tech community and international volunteers to help circumvent the digital blockade by running proxy servers so that people in Iran can communicate safely. In a blog post published on 22 September, the CEO of Signal detailed step-by-step instructions, and called for a Twitter hashtag campaign to promote the effort. Signal has also published support documents in Persian, specifically to assist users in Iran. However, Signal has been hampered by Iranian blocking of SMS validation text codes that Signal attempts to send to its users.

Some Iranian protestors used VPNs to access the internet. Others used Tor Browser. Toosheh, which uses satellite TV receiving equipment common in Iran, can be used to download files, which are then sometimes sneakernetted, but cannot be used to upload content.

Some activists distributed paper leaflets detailing planned protests. Satellite news broadcasts, such as London-based Farsi-language Iran International, provided updates on planned demonstrations. Jamming by the Iranian government was partially successful in blocking foreign satellite TV in parts of Iran. On 7 October, Eutelsat accused Iran of jamming two Persian-language broadcast satellites, in contravention of ITU rules.

Analysis

In October 2022, several intellectuals disagreed on whether the protests already constituted a revolution; several described conditions in which the protest could become a revolution.

Author Maral Karimi stated that the protests "definitely [had] the potential" to become a revolution, but that "theoretically, we can never say if it's a revolution until it's concluded". Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace judged it impossible to predict whether there would be sufficient "divisions at the top" for the protests to become a "full-scale" revolution. Political scientist Janice Stein stated that "where revolutions succeed" would be whether security forces would be willing to fire on citizens.

Author Dina Nayeri stated that "Iranian women aren't looking for hijab reform or concessions on gender laws. They're leading a revolution. The people of Iran don't want to live under Sharia or any religious law." Chess arbiter Shohreh Bayat stated that the protests had evolved into a revolution, "fighting for freedom and for women's and human rights".

In research published in Journal of International Affairs in 2020, prior to the 2022 protests, Saeed Ghasseminejad and colleagues argued that in 2017, protests in Iran had switched from reform to revolution, in the sense of aiming to overthrow the Islamic Republic. They argued that five factors: "geography, demography, violence levels, organization/cohesion, and slogans of protests" provided evidence for a switch. In October 2022, Southern Cross University lecturer Nasim Salehi argued that women had been actively organising a "quiet revolution" since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, being "courageous and bold" in the July 1999 student protests against the closure of the newspaper Salam, the 2009 presidential election protests, the 2017–2018 protests against governmental economic policies, and the 2019–2020 Bloody Aban protests against fuel price increases. Salehi described the protests as "evolution toward revolution", where evolution is seen as "small yet strong and consistent change". Her research group had earlier found that young Iranian women saw themselves as agents of social change.

By early November, the protests were seen by The Guardian as the greatest challenge to the Iranian government since the 1979 revolution. Unlike the 2019–2020 protests, the Mahsa Amini protests spread nationwide, across social classes, universities, the streets and schools.

Reactions

See also: Reactions to the Mahsa Amini protests

According to the BBC, as of November 2022, Western grassroots public opinion is strongly the side of the protestors. For Western governments, the protests compete for priority with other issues such as Iranian nuclearization and Iranian arms shipments to Russia. Many international NGOs have explicitly condemned Iran's government for the violent crackdown, but the United Nations has declined to follow suit, instead limiting itself to statements of concern.

On 22 September, CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour was scheduled to interview President Raisi in New York City, following his appearance at the United Nations general assembly. Amanpour planned to speak with Raisi about several international issues, including Amini's death and the ensuing protests. The interview would have been the first time Raisi spoke with US media on American soil. Forty minutes after the interview was set to begin and before Raisi arrived, an aide to the Iranian leader made a last-minute request and stated that the meeting would not happen unless Amanpour wore a headscarf, referring to "the situation in Iran" and calling it "a matter of respect". Amanpour responded that she could not agree to the "unprecedented and unexpected condition" and later reflected on the situation, saying that when conducting interviews outside of Iran, "I have never been asked by any Iranian president ... to wear a head scarf".

Several Iranian women living in India demonstrated against the Iranian government and burned their hijabs as a sign of protests.

Raisi, the president of Iran: "Enemies want to create a new sedition by riding the wave of livelihood and economic demands of the people; But people are alert and will not allow abuse while raising their demands."

On 24 September, the Foreign Ministry of Iran summoned the ambassadors of the UK and Norway, over of what it considered their "interventionist stance". In particular, the Iranian authorities protested the "hostility" allegedly created by Farsi-language London-based media outlets, as well as the statements made by Iranian-born president of the Norwegian parliament Masud Gharahkhani, in support of the protests.

Iran has alleged that Kurdish groups in Iraq have supported the protests, and has launched attacks on Iraq's Kurdistan region. A 28 September drone and missile attack on an Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in Iraq killed at least 14, including an American and her newborn. The U.S. condemned the attack and threatened further sanctions against Iran. As of 5 October 2022, Iranian attacks (mainly artillery strikes) on Kurdish Iraq were still continuing.

On 3 October, Khamenei commented for the first time on Amini's death and said that "[her] death deeply broke my heart" and called it a "bitter incident", while giving his full support to security forces against protesters. Khamenei dismissed the widespread unrest as "riots" caused by foreign states and dissidents abroad.

On 10 October, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani called on foreigners to "respect our laws" and noted that Iran had arrested 9 citizens of the European Union for supporting the protests.

On 2 November, Khamenei described the events of the past few weeks as "an hybrid war" and said that "the young people who came to the streets are our own children".

In Europe and North America, thousands of protesters demonstrated in solidarity with Iranian protesters.

International organizations

• European Union: The European External Action Service (EEAS) condemned Amini's death in a statement and called for the Iranian government to "ensure that fundamental rights of its citizens are respected". On 4 October, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the EU was considering sanctions against Iran. By 7 October, Denmark, France, Germany, and Italy had called for EU sanctions against Iran.
• United Nations: UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on 27 September, issued a statement calling on Iranian security forces to "refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force". Nada al-Nashif, the acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern over Amini's death and Iranian authorities' response to the resulting protests. Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Human Rights, urged Iran's clerical leadership several days later to "fully respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, and association". Shamdasani added that reports specify that "hundreds have also been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists, and at least 18 journalists", and "Thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country over the past 11 days. Security forces have responded at times with live ammunition".

Human rights advocates

After photos and videos of the protests and the responding force shown during the protests, many international human rights groups such as the Iran Human Rights group and the Human Rights Watch group, and the UN Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif, issued statements of concern. The Human Rights Watch group raised specific concerns about reports that seem to indicate authorities using teargas and lethal force to disperse protesters. In early November 2022, Human Rights Watch issued a further statement claiming that Iranian authorities had intensified their attacks on dissent and the widespread protects through "dubious national security charges" against arrested protestors and "grossly unfair" trials.

Amnesty International has stated "The Iranian authorities have repeatedly shown utter disregard for the sanctity of human life and will stop at nothing to preserve power" and has called on UN member states to "urgently establish an independent investigative and accountability mechanism for the most serious crimes under international law committed in Iran".

Sanctions

See also: United States sanctions against Iran

On 22 September, the United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against the Morality Police as well as seven senior leaders of Iran's various security organizations, "for violence against protestors and the death of Mahsa Amini". These include Mohammad Rostami Cheshmeh Gachi, chief of Iran's Morality Police, and Kioumars Heydari, commander of the Iranian army's ground force, in addition to the Iranian Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib, Haj Ahmad Mirzaei, head of the Tehran division of the Morality Police, Salar Abnoush, deputy commander of the Basij militia, and two law enforcement commanders, Manouchehr Amanollahi and Qasem Rezaei of the Law Enforcement Command of Islamic Republic of Iran in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. The sanctions would involve blocking any properties or interests in property within the jurisdiction of the US, and reporting them to the US Treasury. Penalties would be imposed on any parties that facilitate transactions or services to the sanctioned entities. On 6 October, the U.S. sanctioned 7 Iranian government officials involved with the protest crackdowns.

On 26 September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that his government would impose sanctions on the Morality Police, its leadership, and the officials responsible for Amini's death and the crackdown on the protestors. On 3 October, the sanctions became official when Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced sanctions targeting 9 entities, including the Morality Police and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and 25 individuals, that include high-ranking officials and members of the IRGC. These individuals include Mohammed-Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami, and Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC. On 7 October, the Canadian government expanded the sanctions, banning 10,000 members of the IRGC from entering the country permanently, which represents the top 50% of the organization's leadership. The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, stated that Canada planned to expand the sanctions against those most responsible for Iran's "egregious behavior". Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland, stated that Iran was a "state sponsor of terror", and that "it is oppressive, theocratic and misogynist; The IRGC leadership are terrorists, the IRGC is a terrorist organization".

On 10 October, the United Kingdom applied sanctions on Iranian officials with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly stating that the United Kingdom meant to "send a clear message to the Iranian authorities — we will hold you to account for your repression of women and girls, and for the shocking violence you have inflicted on your own people." Also on 10 October, Deutsche Welle reported that the European Union was working behind the scenes to prepare a sanctions package against Iran. The German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock promised that the EU would issue travel bans and asset freezing against Iranian officials trying to suppress the protests. Bijan Djir-Sarai, spokesperson of the German Free Democratic Party, urged the organization to "quickly adopt powerful sanctions that target the Iranian oligarchy", including members of Iran's Morality Police, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and other loyalists of the Islamic regime, "who are responsible for serious human rights violations".

On 13 October, Canada imposed new sanctions on Iran's government entities and seventeen government-affiliated figures, stating "the actions of the Iranian regime speak for themselves – the world has watched for years as it has pursued its agenda of violence, fear and propaganda" (...) Canada will continue to defend human rights and we will continue to stand in solidarity with the Iranian people, including women and youth, who are courageously demanding a future where their human rights will be fully respected." The figures listed include former foreign minister Javad Zarif, army general Amir Hatami, and Saeed Mortazavi, an Iranian prosecutor whom Canada holds accountable for the torture (and in turn, death) of Canadian-Iranian journalist Zahra Kazemi.

On 17 October, the EU sanctioned eleven individuals and four entities in Iran, including the Basij and the morality police.

The Guardian (on 18 October) characterized Western sanctions as "largely symbolic".

In popular culture

Music

See also: Iranian hip hop

Shahin Najafi released the song "Hashtadia" ("The Eighties' [Children]", i.e. the young girls and boys born in the 1380s H.S. / the year 2002 onwards) on 25 September. Shervin Hajipour released the song "Baraye" as a music video which went viral online on multiple platforms, and was viewed by millions of people. Hajipour was arrested days later on September 29, and then released on bail after he deleted the original video. Several media outlets have called it "the anthem of the protests". Other Iranians who have published activist music include expat Hichkas (the "father of Iranian rap"), Toomaj Salehi (arrested), and Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin (arrested, sentenced to execution).

Sports

The Iranian soccer team wore black jackets without logos during their 27 September World Cup preparation friendly against Senegal; their team uniforms underneath with their team logos were not visible. Given that some team members had tweeted solidarity with the protesters, the jackets were widely interpreted as a further showing of solidarity with the protesters. Following the arrest of retired captain Hossein Mahini, some members of Persepolis F.C. reportedly wore black armbands at a match, and were later summoned by security, according to Iran International. In October 2022, fans of Borussia Dortmund unveiled banners in support of Sarina Esmailzadeh and the women of Iran.

During the 2022 IFSC Climbing Asian Championships held in Seoul in mid-October, Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi received international attention for competing without a hijab. She returned to Tehran. She was greeted as heroine by a cheering crowd at Tehran airport, arriving with a baseball cap and hoodie. Rekabi stated that the act was not intended to be symbolic, claiming publicly that she had been in a hurry and that her headscarf had fallen off accidentally. Human rights organisations and activists suggested that Rekabi had been coerced by the Iranian authorities. As of 21 October 2022, Rekabi was under house arrest according to BBC News and France 24, while Iranian authorities stated that Rekabi was at her home because she was "in need of rest".

See also

• Homa Darabi
• Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
• International Women's Day Protests in Tehran, 1979
• Iranian Revolution
• Killing of Neda Agha-Soltan
• List of protests in the 21st century
• My Stealthy Freedom
• 2022 Zahedan massacre

External links

• Iran’s protest generation on why they won’t be silenced (podcast), 8 Nov 2022, The Guardian
• Hashtags, a viral song and memes empower Iran's protesters, 1 November 2022, BBC
• Persistent protests put survival of Iran’s theocratic regime in question by Alex Whiteman, 19 Oct 2022, Arab News
• Iran protests spread worldwide (video), 24 Sep 2022, DW