Clarified: Why are women leading protests in Iran right now?
Since September 2022, Iran has been rocked by anti-government protests led by women, triggered by the death of a young woman in police custody. The reasons driving the unrest date back decades.
How did the protests in Iran begin?On Sept. 16, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, died in police custody. Just three days earlier, she had been taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for the crime of wearing her hijab (a religious head covering) incorrectly and for wearing trousers that were deemed too tight by official standards. Witnesses who were in the police van alongside Amini said that the so-called “morality police” brutally beat her. When she arrived at the hospital, she was brain dead and later died of cardiac arrest. Her death lit a fuse for Iranian people who have long been unhappy with the way their nation is governed and how women are treated in it. As of November 2022, more than 300 people have been killed after government crackdowns on protests, including children as young as 11. A further 15,000 protestors have been arrested. As Iranians continue acts of resistance, including on the international stage of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, the protests show no signs of slowing, and Iranians hope that their voices will be heard.Modern history of politics and women in IranAlthough Amini is only one victim of the Iranian regime, her death was seen as the final straw for many Iranians exhausted after decades of difficulty. To understand how her death sparked months of protest and the prospect of revolution, Iran’s modern history must first be appreciated.Since the discovery of oil in Iran by the British in 1908, foreign powers have been keenly interested in the country. The British helped an army officer, Reza Khan, come to power as the king or shah of Iran in 1921. Reza Shah wanted to modernize Iran and mold it culturally to mimic Western ideals. This included more freedoms for women, so, in 1936, he issued a decree called Kashf-e hijab, which prohibited women from wearing a veil or head covering in public, regardless of their religion. Women wearing veils were beaten by police and had their scarves forcibly removed. The Shah was replaced by his son, Mohammed Reza, in a coup orchestrated by both British and Russian governments. He continued his father’s regime of westernization, granting more rights to Iranian women, including the right to vote, the right to divorce their husbands and the right to hold custody of their children. Mohammad Reza Shah’s government was also dictatorial, with political opposition routinely beaten, imprisoned and executed. His fast track to modernization came with countrywide problems, including inflation, corruption and wealth inequality. During this time period, the West was still involved in the internal affairs of Iran. In 1953, the CIA organized a coup that successfully overthrew Iran’s elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized the country’s oil industry. This involvement helped sow the seeds of resentment in Iranian people towards the West and their overreach into the nation, on top of the existing economic challenges.Islamic Revolution of 1979 Islamic scholar Ruhollah Khomeini spoke out against the Shah’s regime, denouncing the West and advocating for a return to traditional Iranian and Islamic values. Khomeini lived in Paris after his criticism of the Shah led to his exile in the 1960s. In 1978, civil unrest came to a head, with hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to the streets to denounce the Shah. Government officials and oil workers went on strike. In early 1979, the Shah and his family fled Iran, leaving the nation safe for Khomeini to return to. In April 1979, Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic after an overwhelmingly positive vote and became the nation’s supreme leader, cementing a conservative theocracy. As soon as the republic was formed, many rights for women were rolled back. A strict dress code for women requiring a head covering and modest dress was announced and enforced by police. Some women were forced to leave government positions, and the legal age for marriage was pushed down to 9 years old. These changes created a different lifestyle for women, worlds apart from just a few years earlier when women wore high heels and skirts and could serve in high-ranking positions as lawyers and politicians.The supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini died in 1989 after appointing a new leader, Ali Khamenei. While the country holds elections for prime ministers, the supreme leader holds the most power, acting as commander in chief for the armed forces and overseeing the judicial and executive systems of government. To this day, women in Iran cannot leave the country without their husband’s permission, they cannot show their hair in public or attend sporting events. Modern protest in IranHowever, Iranians have been pushing back for years. In 1999, students protested after a counter-opinion newspaper was shut down, resulting in days of clashes with police. In 2009, Iranians took to the streets in the “green movement,” demanding a fair election process. Now, in 2022, thousands have made their voices heard after the death of Amini. A government-mandated internet blackout and foreign journalist ban make it difficult to fully understand the movement in the country, but Iranians posting on social media have allowed the world to sense the scale of the protests. These particular protests have been led mostly by young people, both men and women. Videos on social media show schoolgirls removing and burning their hijabs, as well as young girls knocking turbans off the heads of religious clerics. Other symbols of the protests include the public cutting of hair, an Iranian symbol of grief, and the chanted slogan “woman, life, freedom.” The protests have also united several different classes, from young and old, to poor and wealthy. Men are supporting the protests alongside women, both in Iran and on the international stage. During Iran’s first World Cup match against England, the soccer team refused to sing their national anthem. The Nov. 29 game against the USA remains tense as supporters in Iran and around the world wait to see who the players will support.
How did the protests in Iran begin?
On Sept. 16, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, died in police custody. Just three days earlier, she had been taken into custody by Iran’s morality police for the crime of wearing her hijab (a religious head covering) incorrectly and for wearing trousers that were deemed too tight by official standards. Witnesses who were in the police van alongside Amini said that the so-called “morality police” brutally beat her. When she arrived at the hospital, she was brain dead and later died of cardiac arrest.
Her death lit a fuse for Iranian people who have long been unhappy with the way their nation is governed and how women are treated in it. As of November 2022, more than 300 people have been killed after government crackdowns on protests, including children as young as 11. A further 15,000 protestors have been arrested. As Iranians continue acts of resistance, including on the international stage of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, the protests show no signs of slowing, and Iranians hope that their voices will be heard.
Modern history of politics and women in Iran
Although Amini is only one victim of the Iranian regime, her death was seen as the final straw for many Iranians exhausted after decades of difficulty. To understand how her death sparked months of protest and the prospect of revolution, Iran’s modern history must first be appreciated.
Since the discovery of oil in Iran by the British in 1908, foreign powers have been keenly interested in the country. The British helped an army officer, Reza Khan, come to power as the king or shah of Iran in 1921. Reza Shah wanted to modernize Iran and mold it culturally to mimic Western ideals. This included more freedoms for women, so, in 1936, he issued a decree called Kashf-e hijab, which prohibited women from wearing a veil or head covering in public, regardless of their religion. Women wearing veils were beaten by police and had their scarves forcibly removed.
The Shah was replaced by his son, Mohammed Reza, in a coup orchestrated by both British and Russian governments. He continued his father’s regime of westernization, granting more rights to Iranian women, including the right to vote, the right to divorce their husbands and the right to hold custody of their children. Mohammad Reza Shah’s government was also dictatorial, with political opposition routinely beaten, imprisoned and executed. His fast track to modernization came with countrywide problems, including inflation, corruption and wealth inequality. During this time period, the West was still involved in the internal affairs of Iran. In 1953, the CIA organized a coup that successfully overthrew Iran’s elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized the country’s oil industry. This involvement helped sow the seeds of resentment in Iranian people towards the West and their overreach into the nation, on top of the existing economic challenges.
Islamic Revolution of 1979
Islamic scholar Ruhollah Khomeini spoke out against the Shah’s regime, denouncing the West and advocating for a return to traditional Iranian and Islamic values. Khomeini lived in Paris after his criticism of the Shah led to his exile in the 1960s. In 1978, civil unrest came to a head, with hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to the streets to denounce the Shah. Government officials and oil workers went on strike. In early 1979, the Shah and his family fled Iran, leaving the nation safe for Khomeini to return to. In April 1979, Khomeini declared Iran an Islamic republic after an overwhelmingly positive vote and became the nation’s supreme leader, cementing a conservative theocracy.
As soon as the republic was formed, many rights for women were rolled back. A strict dress code for women requiring a head covering and modest dress was announced and enforced by police. Some women were forced to leave government positions, and the legal age for marriage was pushed down to 9 years old. These changes created a different lifestyle for women, worlds apart from just a few years earlier when women wore high heels and skirts and could serve in high-ranking positions as lawyers and politicians.
The supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini died in 1989 after appointing a new leader, Ali Khamenei. While the country holds elections for prime ministers, the supreme leader holds the most power, acting as commander in chief for the armed forces and overseeing the judicial and executive systems of government. To this day, women in Iran cannot leave the country without their husband’s permission, they cannot show their hair in public or attend sporting events.
Modern protest in Iran
However, Iranians have been pushing back for years. In 1999, students protested after a counter-opinion newspaper was shut down, resulting in days of clashes with police. In 2009, Iranians took to the streets in the “green movement,” demanding a fair election process. Now, in 2022, thousands have made their voices heard after the death of Amini. A government-mandated internet blackout and foreign journalist ban make it difficult to fully understand the movement in the country, but Iranians posting on social media have allowed the world to sense the scale of the protests.
These particular protests have been led mostly by young people, both men and women. Videos on social media show schoolgirls removing and burning their hijabs, as well as young girls knocking turbans off the heads of religious clerics. Other symbols of the protests include the public cutting of hair, an Iranian symbol of grief, and the chanted slogan “woman, life, freedom.” The protests have also united several different classes, from young and old, to poor and wealthy. Men are supporting the protests alongside women, both in Iran and on the international stage.
During Iran’s first World Cup match against England, the soccer team refused to sing their national anthem. The Nov. 29 game against the USA remains tense as supporters in Iran and around the world wait to see who the players will support.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)