The wave of demonstrations began almost a week ago, with the announcement of the death of a young woman at the hands of the moral police for wearing the veil “incorrectly”
After nearly a week of daily protests in Iran, the demonstrations that began over the death of the young Mahsa Amini – arrested for wearing the veil incorrectly – have turned into massive Y violent in the Persian country.
To date, authorities have confirmed the death of eight peoplebut human rights organizations speak of over ten. The reality is that it is difficult to know: since this Wednesday night, the Iranian government has almost totally restricted the Internet access in all the country. Only sporadically the messaging services of WhatsApp and Instagram.
Initially, the protesters, concentrated mainly in the west of the country and in the capital, Tehrancried out against the obligatory veil, imposed with the victory of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the creation of Islamic Republic of Iran.
But, with the passing of days, the protests have gone much further: protesters -men, women, especially young people- confront the police and government institutions, and charge against monuments and portraits of members of the government; especially that of the Ayatollah of Iran, the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
“We don’t know anything about two friends”
“It has surprised me very much how it all happened. I didn’t expect the streets to fill up, but here we are. I have gone out to protest with my friends because we are tired of having to put up with all their repression every day. Three days ago they arrested two of my friendsand we don’t know anything about them yet & rdquor ;, explains to this newspaper a young iranian who wants to keep his anonymity.
“I am very angry; we are very angry. And our rage is not directed only at the mandatory veil. goes against the whole iranian fascist regime that oppresses us by rule, to stay. The slogans of the people show that the protests started because of the murder of Mahsa Aminibut now the protest is going far beyond& rdquor ;, continues this young woman.
at the police station
It all started on Tuesday of last week, when Amini, 22, was arrested in Tehran by morality policewho took her to the police station when he saw that the young woman was wearing the mandatory veil without covering “enough & rdquor; hair. It is a routine action: the morality police take courses on “re-education” of several hours of detention for women who wear the hijab “incorrectly”.
But according to the girl’s family, Amini was beat up in the patrol car and at the police station, from where she was taken to the hospital in cerebral coma. The doctors decreed his death last Friday. Since then, the young people of Iran have exploded.
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This wave of social protest is the most violent in Iran since 2019, when the rise in gasoline prices sparked off a cycle of protests that, according to independent accounts, may have killed nearly 1,500 people by brutal police repression. Estimates are hard to pin down because, like now, Iran has cut internet access across the country.
“We have seen the tens arrest of people. In one case there was a boy, a teenager, who was beaten so badly that his whole face was blue and bloody. Then they took him away. It seems that they are in a hurry to stop as many people as possible, and they do not wait for them to arrive police trucks. Detainees are taken into motorcycles. God knows where…”, he explained to the dissident medium ‘IranWire’ a city dweller Sanandajwhere Mahsa Amini was from and where the protests started last Saturday.