Iranian authorities brutally cracked down on demonstrations in recent months. But even though the wave of protests has subsided, the spark of resistance is still growing in Iranian society.
Women were the main drivers of anti-government protests in Iran following the death of Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire/empics/picture alliance
There is no official information on the number of demonstrators being held in the country's overflowing jails. However, human rights organizations say that by mid-December more than 18,000 people had been arrested for taking part in the protests across the country. More than 500 protesters have been killed, including at least 63 minors. Many, if not most, were shot in the head. The latest wave of demonstrations was sparked by the death in mid-September of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Despite the violent suppression of the protests, they continued for at least 100 days, according to a 44-page analysis by the prominent sociologist Saeed Madani. His report was smuggled out of prison last week and published on social networks. Madani, a 61-year-old professor from Tehran University, was arrested in May 2022 for saying, in an interview about protests against inflation and food shortages that were taking place at the time: "These protests are directed against the whole political system, and they are recurrent."
"The latest wave of protests, supported by different social strata and ethnic and religious minorities, has left a deep mark and changed society," he wrote in his analysis. "The courage to resist and solidarity among the oppressed have grown across all generations."
Iranian authorities threw some 18,000 people in jail for protesting against the governmentImage: UGC
Increased repression after protests
"In the aftermath of revolutionary phases like these, or in general after phases of mass mobilization under autocratic regimes, repression often increases sharply," said Jannis Grimm, who conducts research into protest and revolution at the Center for Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Research at Freie Universität Berlin.
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Grimm took Egypt as an example, telling DW: "After the military coup of 2013, repression was massively intensified in order to crush all resistance and nip it in the bud. But this policy also contains within it the seed of potential resistance. Because in instigating brutal repression, autocrats always risk creating new myths and martyrs. That can provide the catalyst for the next phase of mobilization."
One such phase of mobilization can currently be observed in Sistan and Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran. The provincial capital, Zahedan, has become a protest stronghold. The situation there has been very tense over the past five months.
"The security forces are everywhere," Fariba Balouch, a human rights activist, told DW. "At least 15 roadblocks have been set up in the city, and the internet is still severely restricted."
Balouch, who has been living in exile in London for the past three years, has many connections in Zahedan, her hometown. "People have been protesting every Friday since the September 30 massacre," she says.
That day — a Friday — more than 80 people were shot over the course of several hours by security forces in Zahedan. Some of the security forces were stationed on rooftops near the central mosque, and they opened fire on a crowd that gathered in the streets after Friday prayers. Iranians all over the country were shocked by the news of "Bloody Friday" in Zahedan, which they didn't hear about until later, on account of the internet blackout.
'Woman, life, freedom!': Iran marks 3 months of protests
The violent death of Jina Mahsa Amini in September has triggered the largest protest movement in decades against the repressive rule in the Islamic Republic. The Iranian state has reacted with full force.
Image: LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images
Face of a revolution
On September 13, 2022, Jina Mahsa Amini was arrested by the morality police in the Iranian capital, Tehran, allegedly because her clothes and headscarf did not comply with the official rules of the Islamic Republic. Three days later, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman died in the custody of the security authorities. Her death triggered an uprising across the country.
Image: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP
'Woman, life, freedom!'
On September 17, the uprising against the regime began at Amini's funeral in her Kurdish hometown of Saqqez: women removed their headscarves, waved them in the air and shouted "Jin, jiyan, azadi!" — in English, "Woman, life, freedom!" The call became the slogan of the growing protest movement. On October 26, thousands came to Aichi cemetery to mark 40 days since Amini's death, as seen here.
Image: UGC/AFP
Historic uprising against the ayatollahs
Amini's death marked the beginning of a historic movement. The protests against the repressive government have shaken all regions of the country, like here in Tehran at the end of September. And they haven't been limited to women — people of all ages, ethnicity and gender have taken part. It's the biggest uprising against the regime since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Image: AFP
Without hijab — and without fear
Over the past three months, more and more women in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, in western Iran, have been taking to the streets without the obligatory hijab. They have shown great courage, as anyone who violates the compulsory veil risks lashes and imprisonment.
Image: SalamPix/abaca/picture alliance
Showing hair and attitude
Despite the threat, women and girls have not been intimidated. In October, these schoolgirls took off their headscarves and shouted "Death to the dictator!" — meaning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Universities saw mass protests, and students, teachers and also oil workers took part in strikes across the country. The Kurdistan region was the scene of a general strike in early December.
Image: SalamPix/abaca/picture alliance
Regime reacts with violence
In an attempt to quash the movement, the regime has reacted with massive violence. Police and the notorious Basij paramilitary group have been sent in to break up the protests — here, police in Tehran approached a group of fleeing demonstrators with batons. Human rights organizations have estimated more than 400 people have been killed by security forces, including many children and youth.
Image: AFP
Randomness and brutality
According to eyewitness reports, police and militia have brutally beaten and fired at demonstrators, some of whom are said to have been shot in the back. Around 14,000 people are said to have been imprisoned for taking part in the demonstrations — like these women locked in a police van in Tehran.
Image: SalamPix/ABACA/picture alliance
Prisons filling up
The notorious Evin Prison in Tehran has become a symbol of repression. Political and intellectual opposition figures are being locked up here, made to survive catastrophic conditions including reported torture. In mid-October, a fire broke out at the prison and witnesses reported hearing gunfire. It remains unclear how many prisoners died or simply disappeared.
Image: UGC
Climbing without a headscarf
Prominent figures from the arts, culture and sports scenes have also taken part in the protests. At the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the national football team refused to sing the Iranian national anthem at their opening match. When climber Elnaz Rekabi, above, competed in Seoul without a hijab, the pictures made headlines around the world. However, she was quickly silenced and issued an apology.
Image: Rhea Kang/AFP
Cutting their hair
The protest movement has received support from around the world, with thousands demonstrating from Paris to San Francisco for regime change in Tehran. In Istanbul, this exiled Iranian woman cut short her hair in front of the Iranian consulate in solidarity with the oppressed women in her home country. Prominent women — and some men — have imitated the gesture worldwide.
Image: YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images
Symbolic support
The global support hasn't just been in the form of protests. On December 13, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was illuminated with the Kurdish words "Woman, life, freedom." In the United States, Time named Iranian women as the magazine's "Heroes of the Year."
Image: Markus Schreiber/AP/picture alliance
'No to the Islamic Republic'
The worldwide protests — here a demonstration in Toronto — have put pressure on the government in Tehran. Additional sanctions are putting a massive strain on the country's economy. The exchange rate of the rial has fallen by more than 20% against the euro and dollar since September, hitting a record low. Even before the demonstrations began, the country was suffering an acute financial crisis.
Image: Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto/IMAGO
Executed for 'enmity against God'
Two imprisoned protesters have already been executed: Rapper Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, seen here. At least 38 other imprisoned protesters are facing execution for the crime of moharebeh, or "enmity against God." Even children can be executed in Iran.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
'Sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind'
The global community has reacted with horror to the news of the executions. The European Union condemned the deaths, and imposed further sanctions. Meanwhile, the protests, in Iran and abroad — including at the World Cup, above — continue. Following the adage "sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind," opponents of the regime have vowed that Jina Mahsa Amini will not have died in vain.
Image: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images
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The mobilization of women
There were children and elderly women among the dead. Bloody Friday mobilized many women in the traditionally conservative province of Sistan and Baluchistan, and prompted them to join the protests, Balouch said.
"A lot of women burned their long black chadors and have gone back to wearing the colorful, traditional clothes they used to wear until the Islamic Revolution," Balouch said. "Even religiously oriented women are showing solidarity at the Friday protests and supporting the demand for equal rights for women in Iran."
The protesters in the region are supported by the influential Sunni cleric Mawlawi Abdul Hamid, who preaches the Friday sermon in the provincial capital. In Sistan and Baluchistan, unlike the rest of the country, Sunni Muslims are in the majority. They are subjected to systematic discrimination by the central government. The province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of the poorest regions in Iran. Many worshippers who attend Friday prayers live in small towns and villages where there are no schools, no electricity and no running water.
"Mawlawi Abdul Hamid has rejected the Tehran government's offer of money to appease the families of the demonstrators killed on September 30," Balouch said. "People are demanding justice. They want freedom, and a different political system; they're shouting 'Death to the dictator.'"
Hijab: A symbol of oppression or freedom?
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Protests and demonstrations continue, and not only in Sistan and Baluchistan. Some 1,800 kilometers away, in the Kurdish regions on Iran's western border with Iraq, protest rallies are still a regular occurrence. There was one on February 1, in the small town of Abdanan, where demonstrators gathered in the town center and burned down a statue glorifying the Basij militia.
"Once the wall of fear collapses, it takes a very long time to rebuild," said Grimm, the social protest researcher.
"For example, many women have stopped wearing headscarves," Katajun Amirpur, a professor of Islamic Studies who specializes in Iran, told DW. "The main thing that has changed is that there is now a greater sense of solidarity. This is reflected in the cry: 'From Zahedan to Kurdistan, my heart belongs to Iran.' That's a very nice development."
