The Rise and Fall of Women in Iran: The Moral Revoltance of the Zhina-Detained Prisoner’s Daughter, Mahsa Amini
On the 40th day after Amini died in prison, protests sparked by her death became even bigger, more determined, and more widespread.
The data set managed byHarvard University researchers shows that such movements are less likely to fail than they were at any other point in the past.
People keep pouring into the streets of the country. The protests were first ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini (also known as Zhina), who died nearly one month ago after being detained by the country’s morality police, but demonstrators have since coalesced around a range of grievances with the regime. Activists and experts are saying that the protests are a national uprising.
Across Iran, videos show that women are most often at the forefront of the recent demonstrations, rallying crowds of both women and men by engaging in symbolic acts of defiance. Women burning their hijabs have become a dominant point of the protest and represent both solidarity with Ms. Amini and resistance against the compulsory wearing of hijabs.
When Iranian women see how the morality police treat women in Iran, they think that could have happened to them, said Golnaz Esfandiari, senior correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. We all know that we have had this experience.
“I was talking to several women in Iran, and they told me, look, even if she wasn’t tortured, but she probably died from fear. She had a heart attack that was caused by fear. Esfandiari said that they know how scary this is.
“This time is different because of the fact that the women are in charge.” Women are the revolutionaries at this time, at this time in history,” said protester Aref Alvandi at the D.C. rally, according to ABC News.
“Iranian people are not backing down. A demonstrator said the Iranian Regime had miscalculated their resolve for changing their regime and asked the White House to do the same.
The relentless bravery of the Iranian women, of the Iranian people, is a timely moral test for the rest of the world. They deserve more than they have received.
More than three quarters of the US population of Iranian descent live in the Los Angeles metro area.
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Washington. Chanting crowds in Berlin, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles showed their support for the protesters in Iran by marching in the streets on Saturday.
I was dragged off the street by my hair because I didn’t have a hijab. And I know how they can kill you. It’s not shocking to me, but I’m glad the world is aware of the brutal nature of this regime.
One protester, who spoke on condition of anonymity told the news outlet that they were sure that our people would rise in the same way as the Iranians.
On Friday, several feminist groups in Paris organized a protest in support of Iranian women, asking the president to take action.
The spokeswoman for the Osez le Féminisme, Fabienne El-Khoury, told France24 that there is a role to play in relaying the messages of Iranian men and women here.
One of the latest examples surfaced online Friday, from protests in the southeastern city of Zahedan. A video shows a group of men being tended to outside after a number of apparently injured and bleeding men are seen at a nearby mosque.
In the past, the families of those killed by security forces have been intimidated by the authorities into keeping quiet. But this latest round of protests has seen videos of funeral services uploaded online showing displays of public mourning, such as a woman cutting her hair over a coffin.
Narges Bajoghli, an assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University, noted how similar public mourning rituals for those killed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution were key to support for the revolution’s success. She said that these scenes help boost antigovernment sentiment.
She said they were grieving over the deaths of their children. “And that is now circulating online among Iranians. And so it creates even more grief, more rage but also more solidarity.”
As anti-government protests continued to spread through universities and high schools, Iran’s President appealed for national unity and tried to allay anger against the country’s rulers.
Raisi acknowledged that the Islamic Republic had “weaknesses and shortcomings,” but repeated the official line that the unrest sparked last month by the death of a 22-year-old woman in the custody of the country’s morality police was nothing short of a plot by Iran’s enemies.
He said the country was aiming at cooperation to reduce people’s problems. National integrity and unity are necessities for our enemy’s survival.
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The 83-year-old Khamenei, who commented on the protests for the first time on Monday, blamed – without evidence – the United States and Israel for fueling the protests. He made clear that the regime would stop the protesters from wanting change.
At least 21 people were going to get the death penalty from the Iranian authorities, as of November, according to theAmnesty International report.
As the new academic year officially began this week, the demonstrations spread quickly to university campuses, long considered sanctuaries in times of turmoil. Videos on social media show students calling for the end of the Islamic Republic while expressing solidarity with peers who have been arrested. Roiled by the unrest, many universities moved classes online this week.
Security forces surrounded the school in Tehran and used tear gas against protesters holed up inside a parking lot who were prevented from leaving. The student union reported that police arrested hundreds of students, although many were later released.
Vehicles filled the streets immediately after the news broke of the students being rounded up, with horns being used in solidarity with the protesters as the showdown unfolded at the university.
The Biden administration has said it condemns the brutality and repression against the citizens of Iran and that it will look for ways to impose more sanctions against the Iranian government if the violence continues.
A woman dressed in black holds up a framed portrait of her son on the sidewalk in Tehran. I am not afraid of anyone. I was told to be silent. I will not be,” the woman seen in a viral social media video yells, her voice fraught with emotion.
Many Iranians claim the regime tried to silence them as they mourned their loved ones killed in protests.
The protesters say they are fed up after decades of political and social repression. One of the main slogans has been “Death to the dictator,” referring to Iran’s 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has held the country’s highest office for more than three decades.
The Kurdish minority group has been the focus of abuse since demonstrations began, with reports of forced imprisonment and physical abuse being used by authorities.
Secondary schools and universities around the country are flashpoints, and women and girls have been taking off their mandatory headscarves, known as hijabs.
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“These terrorists think that our generation is the previous generation. We are not. A demonstrator at Tehran’s prestigious Sharif University of Technology told CNN “let me assure you”, in reference to Iranian police who had violently cracked down on demonstrators.
“If the dust settles and we stop protesting, they are going to kill even more of us. They are going to turn us to North Korea and they are going to detain even more people. This isn’t the end. I promise that.
The leaked document was said to instruct commanders of the armed forces in all provinces to use force against protesters, as well as some members of the military’s elite Revolutionary guards and plainclothes security agents.
CNN has not seen the leaked documents obtained by Amnesty International and cannot verify the reporting. CNN reached out to the organization but has yet to receive a response.
CNN uncovered evidence that sexual violence has been occurring against protesters in Iran’s detention centers since the unrest began.
The threat posed by these protests, analysts say, is existential to the regime, and is one of the biggest challenges the Islamic Republic has faced in years.
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They’re breaking from their predecessors who wanted to reform the system from within. This new generation does not seem to have any faith in that.
Vaez said that it is difficult to sustain a movement that can bring the regime to its knees.
A regime with a nuclear weapon is the worst thing that could happen to its own people, he said.
The veil served as a reminder of the power of the Islamic Republic. But now, stripped off and waved in furious protest by young women, it has come to symbolize the gulf between the population’s demands and what the government is willing, or even able, to provide.
She traded rumors with people who helped her, saying the security forces are using adolescent boys and recruits from Iraq because their ranks are so divided and unwilling, and that the intelligence agents are watching people who show up at night to buy first aid supplies. They all agreed that turnout at the counterprotest rally was a flop, as they all thought it was to show support for the government.
Even the police, by some accounts, are divided and exhausted. The police force itself, distinct from the Basij militia and the Revolutionary Guards, is less politically ideological. After dusk on Sept. 27, I watched as policemen across Tehran simply sat down on the sidewalks in a long line of reluctant, exhausted authority. One person said he hadn’t slept for four nights and then his mom told him to not beat the other people’s kids. He did not want to. The policemen have close friends who are on opposite sides of these fights in person. For the first time in its history, the Iranian state is staring a challenge in the face, knowing many of its forces’ sympathies lie with the people.
What is more important to the protesters, is the law or patriarchal norm that they’re up against. The list of injustices is long: unequal marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance laws; the lack of important protections under new domestic and gender-based violence statutes; unequal access to sports stadiums; employment discrimination; and workplace sexual harassment. I questioned a friend who is trying to save up to emigrate to Sweden what mattered most to her. “I’d like to live in a society where when I submit a résumé for a job, I’m not asked to submit a full-length picture of myself and probably expected to sleep with my boss,” she said. The 22-year-old told me she wanted to be able to move about in public without fear or stress.
As violence continues in Iran, schools are being taken to “psychological institutions” to take part in street protests. CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh reports.
He told the Shargh newspaper that students can return to class after they have been reformed as they could become anti-social characters.
The violence of the Kurdish-majority city Sanandaj: a gun-fire ringing out in a protest for children’s protection
Videos obtained by the pro-reform activist IranWire posted on social media showed demonstrations in Tehran and other Iranian cities.
The UN children’s agency called for the protection of children and adolescents in Iran on Tuesday as public unrest there entered its third week.
Flares lighting up the sky and gunfire ringing out in video footage distinguish areas of Iran similar to battle zones nearly a month after the start of nationwide protests.
“I am recording this video about the situation in Sanandaj,” said one demonstrator, his face covered with a black scarf and dark glasses, in a message to CNN from the Kurdish-majority city in western Iran, where some of the most dramatic images have emerged from the protests, despite a near total internet shutdown in the area.
The security forces fired towards the houses. They were using military-grade bullets,” he said. I hadn’t heard them before. People were afraid.
Other videos showed protesters throwing rocks at the police, with the officers sometimes travelling in a procession of motorcycles who were shooting at the crowd.
While it is impossible to independently verify a death toll from such clashes, gruesome images circulating online, and eyewitness testimony collected by CNN as well as rights groups, point to the bloodshed. The video shows a driver with a large gunshot wound in his face, and he is dead. Activists said that the driver was on his way to join the protest when he died.
“In Sanandaj, they shoot the people honking their horns with bullets. And they shoot young and old alike,” said another protester in a video message to CNN. The injured don’t go to hospitals because police will make arrests if they do.
The Last Days of Protests in the Iranian Regime: The Enigma of the Kurdish-Majority Diaspora
Meanwhile, the crackdown continues to intensify in various parts of Iran, most notably in the Kurdish-majority north and northwest, where allegations of the mistreatment of the ethnic minority was already widespread.
Let us be honest. From the first day of protests, this has been inspiring, but also terrifying to watch. We know what the Islamic Republic can do. We fear for the safety of these brave people, and it can seem irresponsible to encourage them. The odds are against them. And yet, they have made the choice to continue the fight. They are deserving of our support.
Around the country, protesters have pushing for economic strikes with some success. In Kurdish-majority areas, where the protests are believed to be more organized than elsewhere in the country, social media videos showed lines of shops shuttered. Many merchants in Tehran say they closed their stores to protect their shops from the protests and the suppressions that follow, even though they say that is not true. Iranian activists have called for a general strike but it hasn’t happened yet.
Iran relied on the petroleum industry for its economy and has been hurt by sanctions from the Trump administration and the Biden administration. US officials have been in indirect negotiations with Iran for a year and a half in a bid to restore a landmark 2015 nuclear deal – which former President Donald Trump withdrew from four years ago – that would see Iran curb its uranium enrichment program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Labor strikes in Iran have historic meaning. The popular movement that overthrew the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was started by oil and gas refineries.
The government can’t do much if a general strike is going to happen. “That would completely paralyze the state and would show the powerlessness of the state in the face of this movement.”
Hengaw, the Kurdish rights group, believes that the violence against protesters being reported from the region “is just a drop in the ocean,” with only partial information emerging about the crackdown.
A “major disruption” to internet access has occurred since 9:30 a.m. in Iran (2 a.m. ET) on Wednesday, according to NetBlocks. Kurdish activists say that authorities have also shut the area’s landline network, arguing that the bloodshed seen in the videos could just be the tip of the iceberg.
According to a statement by Amnesty, at least 23 children and many more were killed and injured by Iran’s security forces, in a bid to crush the spirit of resistance among the country’s youth.
Between the start of the protests in Iran and October 3, theAmnesty organization has recorded the names and details of 141 men, women and children killed by the security forces.
CNN cannot independently verify the death toll – a precise figure is impossible for anyone outside the Iranian government to confirm – and different estimates have been given by opposition groups, international rights organizations, and Iranian journalists.
Why did the teenagers in Iran go missing? The women(asterisk) Life Freedom Collective march through Berlin and the U.S. Capitol
State news agency IRNA says Iran’s supreme leader called protesters agent of the west and called for them to be punished.
It was the last time their relatives would see them alive. One family tried to locate their daughter for 10 days, while the other discovered her fate when they found out she was missing.
The result was the same. The missing teenagers had been killed by the security forces, their families and human rights groups said. One girl had her head smashed and the other girl had her head cracked open. Their bodies were handed back to their families bruised and disfigured. They were both just 16.
The two teenagers who have become the new faces of protests that have convulsed the country for the past month, are Nika and Sarina. They appear on posters hidden in Iran’s cities and on banners carried by protesters with slogans such as “We want fury against the rulers of the Islamic Republic”.
On the U.S. National Mall, thousands of women and men of all ages — wearing green, white and red, the colors of the Iran flag — shouted in rhythm. “Be scared. You need to be scared. We are one in this,” demonstrators yelled, before marching to the White House. Say her name! It is mahsa!
Iranians from all over the United States descended on Washington D.C. to participate in the demonstration put together by grassroots organizers.
Protesters in D.C. sang traditional Persian music that was written after the revolution in 1979 brought religious fundamentalists to power in Iran. They sang one in particular in unison — “Baraye,” meaning because of, which has become the unofficial anthem of the Iran protests. In late September, the artist of that song, Shervin Hajipour, was arrested after posting the song to his IG. It had more than 40 million views.
In Berlin, a crowd estimated by German police at several tens of thousands turned out to show solidarity for the women and activists leading the movement for the past few weeks in Iran. The protests in Germany’s capital, organized by the Woman(asterisk) Life Freedom Collective, began at the Victory Column in Berlin’s Tiergarten park and continued as a march through central Berlin.
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A world affairs columnist is Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. CNN has more opinion on it.
Thousands of people defiantly disobeyed the police and went to Saqqez to mark an important day in mourning, even as security forces fired live bullets and tear gas to stop them.
Nika died as a result. CNN investigated the death of a woman in Iran and found that she was killed by security forces used to crack down on demonstrators after she protested. Eyewitnesses told CNN they saw Nika among groups of protesters being detained later that night. Her battered body was returned to her grieving family after that last time she was seen. Her mother is also talking to protesters.
The protests are going on. Seven weeks in, they have lasted longer than any uprising since the 1979 revolution toppled the Pahlavi regime and brought to power today’s theocracy. The protests are different from the previous ones. The Green movement endorsed a candidate. In 2019, demonstrators called out harsh economic conditions.
The women and men who have joined them are all crying out, “Death to the dictator.” This is not about reform. This is about the future.
The US, its other allies, democracies across the world and any country that rejects the regime’s actions should join in isolating Iran diplomatically. Diplomatic relations should continue, but if Iran kills protesters, they should be degraded. Iran should be removed from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Its presence there is a travesty.
Germany this week announced that there cannot be business as usual with Iran because of the situation, and launched a wide-reaching diplomatic response that includes a review of bilateral trade and financial relations and support for nongovernmental organizations monitoring crimes against protestors.
Biden was willing to have the US rejoin the nuclear deal but talks have broken down. The American position seems to have hardened since the beginning of the protests, with officials saying restoring the deal wouldn’t be a priority during the demonstrations.
The goal of the US and its allies is to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But restarting the deal could bring hundreds of billions of dollars to the regime that is currently killing peaceful protesters, arming Russia with killer drones used to slaughter innocent Ukrainians and continuing to support terrorist groups across the Middle East. The wisdom of reviving the nuclear deal needs to be reexamined.
Iran’s 1979 Theocracy: A Nightmare at the End of a Trouble for The United States and a Tale of “Argo”
Iran marked the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by the government in 1979 on Friday, just weeks after a woman died in police custody.
Iranian state-run television aired live feeds of various commemorations around the country, with some in Tehran waving placards of the triangle-shaped Iranian drones Russia now uses to strike targets in its war on Ukraine. But while crowds in Tehran looked large with chador-wearing women waving the Islamic Republic’s flag, other commemorations in the country appeared smaller, with only a few dozen people taking part.
Iran’s hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, speaking to people gathered in front of the former U.S. Embassy building, criticized those protesting the theocracy.
“Anyone taking the smallest step in the direction of breaching security and riots, must know that they are stepping in the direction of enemies of the Islamic Revolution,” he said. “Americans think they can execute the plan they carried out in some countries like Syria and Libya here. What a false dream!
The commemoration also featured effigies of Saudi crown prince and French president. There were signs and chants in the crowd that saidDeath to America. Death to Israel!
Hard-liners within Iran long have bussed government workers and others into such Nov. 4 demonstrations, which have a carnival-like feel for the students and others taking part on Taleqani Street in downtown Tehran.
Iran’s theocracy is trying to improve its hard-line base. Some signs read “We Are Obedient To The Leader,” referring to 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say over all matters of state in the country. The weekslong demonstrations have included cries calling for Khamenei’s death and the overthrow of the government.
Student demonstrators climbed over the fence at the embassy in November of 1979 to protest Jimmy Carter allowing Shah Mohammad Pahlavi to receive cancer treatment in the U.S.
The students were in control of the entire compound. A tale dramatized in the 2012 film “Argo” was that of a few staffers escaping the country after hiding in the home of the Canadian ambassador to Iran.
The nightly images of blindfolded hostages on television sets across America caused a sensation. Carter left office on Ronald Reagan’s inauguration day in 1981, Iran let the captives go.
Over the years, the animosity between Iran and the U.S. has gone up. In order to get rid of international sanctions on Iran, the US and world powers reached a nuclear deal with the country. Donald Trump’s withdrawal of from the deal in his first year in office sparked years of tensions.
During a campaign event, Biden said that they were going to free Iran. He added, “They’re gonna free themselves pretty soon.”
“Maybe he said this because of a lack of concentration. … Raisi said that he said that they aim to liberate Iran. “Mr. President! Iran was liberated 43 years ago, and since then it’s determined not to become another captive. We won’t become a cow.
Some protesters held up placards of atoms as a way of reminding them that Iran is closer to having a weapons- grade nuclear weapon than ever before. Nonproliferation experts warn Iran now has enough enriched uranium to make at least one nuclear weapon if it chose, though Tehran insists its program is peaceful.
The execution of a 23-year-old man for “waging war against God” and “spreading corruption on Earth” by Iranian protests
An Iranian court has issued the first death sentence linked to recent protests, convicting the unnamed person of “enmity against God” and “spreading corruption on Earth,” state media reports.
According to the news agency, they were convicted of colluding to commit a crime against national security, war and corruption on Earth, and that they were sentenced to death.
Five others who took part in the protests received sentences of five to 10 years in prison, convicted of “collusion to commit a crime against national security and disturbance of public peace and order.”
IRNA added that these decisions are preliminary and can be appealed. The news agency did not name the protester who was sentenced to death, or give details on when or where they committed the crime.
That figure includes 43 children and 25 women, the group said in an update to its death toll on Saturday, saying that its published number represented an “absolute minimum.”
Despite the threat of arrests – and harsher punishments for those involved – Iranian celebrities and athletes have stepped forward to support the anti-government protests in recent weeks.
The UN experts said that Iran should stop indicting people with charges of death for participation or alleged participation in peaceful demonstrations and use the death penalty to squash protests.
Iran’s Mizan news agency reported the execution of the man, identified as Mohsen Shekari. A man is accused of blocking a street and attacking a member of the security forces with a machete. The member of the forces had wounds and needed stitches.
On Dec. 8, Mohsen Shekari, 23, was the first to be put to death. He was hanged for participating in the protests in Tehran. Four days later, Majid-Reza Rahnavard, also 23, was executed publicly — his body was hanged from a crane in the northeastern city of Mashhad. Like Shekari, he was convicted of “waging war against God,” a capital offense.
Days after Shekari was hanged, a second execution took place on December 12. After two paramilitary officers were killed, the accused man was sentenced to death in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
His execution must be met with international reactions and strongest possible terms. Protesters protesting for their fundamental human rights will be executed daily if we do not act, the group’s director has told CNN.
The former leader told the government to listen to the protesters before the anniversary of the murder of three university students by Iranian police in 1953 is too late.
Shekari’s trial in Tehran has been condemned as a violation of human rights by the Iranian parliament and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Men in Iranian prisons are abusing women in prisons, according to an Iranian Sunni cleric.
Alidoosti was among several Iranian celebrities to express support for the nationwide protests and criticize the authorities’ violent clampdown on dissent. She had posted at least three messages in support of the protests on Instagram before her account was disabled.
The Basij, a wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, has been praised by Iran’s Supreme Leader, who described the protesters asrioters and traitors.
Iran is a full-fledged human rights crisis, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for an independent investigation to find out if there were violations of human rights.
At least twelve people have been sentenced to death for their involvement in the demonstrations, and activists say that more could be put to death in the near future.
The Mizan report said Shekari said he was offered money to attack the security forces. Iran’s government accuses foreign countries of fomenting unrest in the country, rather than Iranians angry about the country’s financial collapse, police brutality and other problems.
The Mizan news agency, run by the country’s judiciary, said Shekari had been found guilty and sentenced in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, which is criticized around the world for not permitting those on trial to look at the evidence against them.
The courtroom and parts of Shekari’s trial were aired by Iran’s state television after his execution.
Salavati oversaw many cases where journalists, lawyers, political activists, and even members of Iran’s ethnic and religious minority groups were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, lashes and even execution for exercising their freedom of expression.
The actress from the Oscar-winning film was released by Iran on Wednesday, nearly three weeks after she was arrested for taking part in the protests.
Local rights group, Committee to Counter Violence Against Women in Iranian Cinema, said on Twitter that it wasn’t clear which government department had taken Alidoosti into custody.
Known as a feminist activist, Alidoosti last month published a picture of herself on Instagram without the Islamic hijab and holding a sign reading “Women, Life, Freedom” to show support for the protest movement.
After Shekari’s execution, she said in another post: “Your silence means supporting tyranny and tyrants,” adding that “every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.”
“I will stand by the families of prisoners and the killed and will demand justice for them. I will fight for my home and I will pay any cost to stand for my rights,” she wrote.
Iran Executions, Protests, and “Mahsa-amini”: An Iran-Executives-Protests
The pro-government TV channel aired an audiotape of Rahnavard talking to police. NPR could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the audio.
“Unfortunately, my own arrow hit my brother, I am sorry,” the recording says, with a reference to the conviction of the Basij militia members.
The anti-regime demonstrations began as an expression of public outrage at Amini’s death but quickly turned into calls for the ousting of Iran’s cleric led regime.
Some students at Allameh University were banned from classes for participating in a rally, according to the deputy head.
The university official is quoted as saying that people who persist in their path and don’t appreciate our tolerant behavior are the students.
There is a large number of prisoners. Rights groups estimate at least 18,000 people have been detained, with at least 39 seen as at risk of receiving a death sentence or being executed.
A 53-year-old radiologist is one of the people sentenced to death. His wife Farzaneh Ghareh Hassanlou has been sentenced to 25 years’ solitary confinement. They were arrested in a protest.
Anti-regime activists say that there were issues with his ability to access his own lawyer. The attorney appointed by the government reportedly mounted no defense, instead advising his client to accept the charges of crimes against God.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/12/20/1144206320/iran-executions-protests-mahsa-amini
Leila tries to keep them safe, but she does not know how to do it : a documentary about a Muslim prisoner’s life
He says there is no violence at all. The personality level is very opinionated. He could be as stubborn as hell due to what he believed in.
He says he’s proud of you. I believe I am. I really miss him, but at the same time, I’m so proud of him. I never asked in my thoughts, ‘Why did you do this?’ Of course, the implication was huge for him, for his family, for all the people around him. I’m still proud of him.
For years, Leila’s life has been on pause – interrupted by periods of imprisonment and prolonged interrogation – all at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s notorious security apparatus.
Using only a burner phone and a VPN Leila continues her work today, communicating with protesters in jail, as well as families with loved ones on death row – sharing their stories on social media, in an effort to help keep them safe, and alive.
I arrived in the middle of the night. It was dark outside. She said her family and she don’t know where she is.
“The comments and messages I receive are very encouraging. People are feeling good to see that I am active now and that I am with them [during this uprising].”
Taraneh Alidoosti, the faceless victim of the Evin Prison’s “The Salesman,” was released on bail on bail
To speak with her loved ones, Leila relies on third parties to pass on notes through encrypted messaging services, using code words in case Iran’s security forces are monitoring their conversations.
The most significant threat the regime has faced to date is seen as the one that caused Amini’s death.
She set up a business, attended a university course and was working with a therapy to deal with the trauma brought on after years of imprisonment.
“They wanted to silence me as soon as the uprising happened after Mahsa Amini was murdered…I knew if I wanted to stay and continue my activities, I would have to hide myself from their sight.”
She stopped going to her bank account and went as far as exchanging her life savings for gold when she needed it the most.
If I get caught and sent back to prison, I will become known as a faceless name, like the countless other people who were imprisoned and never heard of again.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said Taraneh Alidoosti, the 38-year-old star of Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-winning 2016 film, “The Salesman,” was released on bail. Her mother said in a post on the social media site she would be released.
After her release from the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran on Wednesday, Alidoosti posed with bunches of flowers, surrounded by friends. No further details have been released about her case.
One message had expressed solidarity with the first man to be executed on charges linked to the protests, which were triggered by the death of a woman in police custody and have escalated into widespread calls for the overthrow of Iran’s ruling clerics.
The era of the revolution. The death of a salesman: Iranian women’s rights in the early 1980s and the challenges of the future
When he met with women on Wednesday, Iran’s supreme leader said that those who do not fully observe the hijab should not be accused of being against the revolution.
Even before the protests, many Iranian women wore the headscarf loosely, and authorities sometimes eased off on enforcing it, particulary during the presidency of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who governed from 2013 to 2021. His successor, the hard-liners, tightened the restrictions.
In June 2020, she was given a suspended five-month prison sentence after she criticized the police on Twitter in 2018 for assaulting a woman who had removed her headscarf.
She played a woman in the movie “The Salesman” who was raped by her husband. The story unfolds against a staging of Arthur Miller’s classic play “Death of a Salesman,” in which a married couple are cast as the main characters.
The size of the demonstrations is said to be on the decline. The founder and CEO of the Bourse and Bazaar Foundation posted a chart to the Internet that seems to show declines. Batmanghelidj wonders why the current protest movement has not generated large and durable protests as large as the “Green Movement” did in 2009.
Javad, an old protester from north-central Iran tells NPR he has no doubt that the protests will get bigger. He asked that his family name not be used in order to protect himself and his relatives from retaliation by the authorities.
He says that it will be harder to join the movement if there is not cooperation and a plan to put pressure on the Islamic Republic and facilitate the transition from this government to a new government. “People will find it difficult to trust the opposition without such a cooperation.”
Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group says that it’s incredible that the regime has driven young Iranians onto the streets, primarily through its own incompetence and corruption. A historic parallel is what he sees.
“My sense is that the Islamic Republic is where the Soviet Union was in the early, not late, 1980s,” he says. “Early 1980s in the sense that it is a system that is economically broken, at a political dead end and unable to address its problems with the same cast of characters who have created this conflict to begin with.”
Vaez predicts that the protests will not descend into the streets in a new era of mass censorship: a critical assessment
Vaez believes that the situation is in a stalemate because the protesters are still a minority voice.
“As long as the protests don’t reach critical mass, the regime is unlikely to fracture and lose its willingness to repress,” he says. “But as long as it doesn’t show any signs of losing its willingness to repress, it’s unlikely that more protesters would come to the streets.”