in Iran Different from Previous Ones?
By Floria Persis | International | December 7, 2022
Cover Illustration: Protest for Iran. Artin Bakhan/Unsplash
International News reporter Floria Persis provides an account of the prevailing protests in Iran, noting how this uprising strikes a different tone from ones of the past.
Recent protests in Iran began in September of 2022, following the brutal attack on Mahsa Zhina Amini, which led to her death in the hospital. Amini was beaten into a coma by morality police for improperly covering her hair. This sparked outrage across the country, with protests spreading quickly from Amini’s hometown of Saqqez, Kurdistan, to the rest of the nation. In response, security forces have retaliated with extreme violence. These acts include killing protestors, attacking universities and schools, setting fire to Iran’s most notorious political prison and killing children as young as seven years old, according to Amnesty Iran. Despite the ever-increasing death toll and thousands of arrests, Iranians have continued their protests for over two months.
In an interview with The Amsterdammer, Hadi Ghaemi, a human rights expert and founder of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said that these protests did not “appear out of the blue.” Dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic has persisted for years as the country is “falling apart” socially, economically and politically. The revolutionary guard has overtaken the parliament, leaving no room for any dissent, Ghaemi remarked. Iran’s elite are free to financially pillage the country while 60% of the population live below the poverty line. Laws impede citizens’ personal freedom and autonomy, with the mandatory hijab as an example. He adds that the government takes no accountability for the crimes it commits against its own people and uses violence at its disposal.
“The average prisoner in Iran is between 17-21 years old”, the CHRI founder said. Most protestors belong to this age group. Security forces have subsequently cracked down on schools and universities in addition to targeting individual children. The current death toll of those 18 and under is 58, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran. Sara, a student from Iran, told The Amsterdammer that the collective feeling of the younger generation is that they have nothing to lose, even in light of the deadly consequences of protesting. “You have no future. Even if you study in university, you cannot achieve much,” she said.
Soheyla, an Iranian activist who amassed a following on TikTok (@Takararoma), said that this uprising is different from previous ones because of the huge involvement and support of women. “This time, every woman in Iran is involved. This revolution was started by women; a woman was killed for her hijab. Another woman, a journalist, got the news out, and all the women in the country took to the streets to demand change and justice.” She adds that an often overlooked fact is that Iranians hold high regard for women, which can be seen in their culture, poetry, history and even the protests. The most famous phrase in the demonstrations is a Kurdish slogan, “Jin Jiyan Azadi,” which translates to “woman life freedom.”
Both Sara and Soheyla attribute the massive amount of global attention this movement has received to it being centered around women’s issues. They also credit social media messaging apps and platforms. Soheyla stated that the government did not shut down the internet on time to prevent the news of Amini’s murder from spreading. Both of them urge Iranians and non-Iranians alike to get their news from reliable sources and to continue talking and posting about the protests. Ghaemi said that this is not an Iran-specific issue. Iran is the largest country in the Middle East and has shaped other countries in the region in its own image. The current youth-led uprising against the Islamic Republic can be a model for future revolutions.
Despite this, there has not been much meaningful action on behalf of the international community. The interviewees said that governments around the world should stop making any type of trade deals with the Islamic Republic and expel all Iranian ambassadors back to Iran. Sara and Soheyla informed The Amsterdammer that Iranian ambassadors and those connected to the government live luxurious lifestyles outside the country, funded by Iranian tax-payer money and void of the oppressive laws they impose on Iranians. They believe that this should no longer be allowed. Sara briefly talked about her own experiences with immigration, saying that “migration agencies know everything about you,” referring to how countries around the world are knowingly providing visas to those associated with the government. “Why should they live luxuriously when they kill people? That’s our money in their bank account!” she stated.
The uprising in Iran meets the criteria for a revolution as outlined in James DeFronzo’s book Revolution and Revolutionary Movements: mass frustration and unification of different groups in society. This can be seen by oil and steel workers’ strikes, students protesting and business owners closing their stores to shock the economy. It can also be witnessed among Iran’s many ethnic groups. Soheyla tells The Amsterdammer that the government instigated conflict between ethnic groups to distract them from more important issues, but were not successful. “It feels as though everyone has found each other,” Sara states. When asked what the future holds for Iran, all interviewees said that this was a complicated question, but remained positive that the collapse of the Islamic Republic is inevitable. Reflecting on the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Ghaemi said that this could either happen slowly or very quickly.
Floria Persis is a university student in Amsterdam. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Amsterdammer.
