Iran’s third week of anti-government protests is in full swing as thousands from across the country demand respect for women’s rights and freedom of expression from Iran’s strict Islamic regime. Christians in Iran have also joined in and expressed support for the protests.
The protests began September 17th at the funeral of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who was killed in police custody. The young woman was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf incorrectly. According to eyewitnesses, Amini was beaten inside a police van where she then slipped into a coma. At the hospital, Amini was pronounced dead.
Iranian police have denied the allegations that she was beaten and have stated that she died from a sudden heart attack while at the morality police station.
At Amini’s funeral in her hometown of Saqez, protestors gathered in the early morning hours to prevent Iranian authorities from burying her in secret, the BBC reported. Videos show the crowd shouting “Death to the Dictator,” referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while some women removed their headscarves.
While chanting death to dictator, women removed their headscarves to protest at the funeral of #MahsaAmini who died after being arrested by #Iran‘s morality police for allegedly not observing the country’s strict Islamic dress code. The 22 yr old was buried earlier today. pic.twitter.com/JVwaqeuJkG
— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) September 17, 2022
Protests have spread across the country to Tehran, Iran’s capital, and beyond in just days and are in their third week. Iranian women have been refusing to adhere to the state’s modesty laws, cutting their hair in protest and solidarity with Amini, burning their veils, and shouting “Women, life, freedom.” Schools and universities have become epicenters of the protests with school girls across the country, most in their teens, removing their hijabs.
A beautiful protest in Karaj, Iran, where schoolgirls are chanting: Freedom!
This is Iranian new generation’s revolution against gender apartheid regime.
The girl who took this video wrote to me: We are not scared, we don’t want to live with humiliation.#MahsaAmini#مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/Iy57NsDv5t— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) October 4, 2022
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran, women have been expected to abide by compulsory hijab laws, which require them to wear a headscarf. All women, regardless of religion, must comply with Iran’s hijab and modesty laws. In 2021, Iranian officials announced plans to increase the enforcement of these hijab laws, and in July 2022, morality police began cracking down on headscarf laws. Mahsa Amini is one in a long line of women who have been harassed, arrested, and worse for expressing their beliefs.
Christians in Iran, specifically converts from Islam, have also been repeatedly targeted by Iran’s government, their house churches raided and their members arrested and imprisoned.
Iranian Christian, former prisoner of conscience, and human rights activist, Mary Mohammadi circulated a statement on September 30th among the Christian community in Iran that expressed solidarity with the Mahsa Amini protests.
“We, Christians, have not been spared [the regime’s] brutal oppression. Ongoing assassinations; imprisonment; torture; humiliation; rejection; flogging; exiling; forced veiling; deprivation of privacy (even in our own homes); deprivation of work and education; confiscation of property; and destruction of our churches are just a few examples of the regime’s desperate attempt to crush us. We have suffered, yet, we have not retreated,” the statement said, per a translation by Kayhan Life.
The statement gained over 300 signatures in the first 24 hours, Mohammadi told Kayhan Life.
Another group of Iranian Christians also released a statement about the protests: “We, Hamgaam Council of United Iranian Churches, Article18 and the Pars Theological Centre, as part of the Iranian Christian community, declare our solidarity with the bereaved family of Mahsa (Zina) Amini, and support their call for justice. In unison with the citizens of our country, we condemn the systematic oppression of women and the widespread violation of human rights in Iran. At the same time, we demand freedom, justice and equal rights for all Iranians.
“We, like many of the people in Iran who have protested in the city streets with unparalleled courage following Mahsa’s death, consider the imposition of mandatory hijab on the people of Iran – representing a range of religious, ethnic and cultural identities – an obvious violation of human rights, and demand an end to this and other discriminatory laws.
“‘We are all Mahsas’, and ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ are among the slogans of the brave women and men of Iran, reminding us that we are all together, regardless of ethnicity, religion, language or belief, in this fight against the shared pain of injustice, oppression and religious dictatorship, as well as our hope for life, freedom and equality.
“We remember the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, and other victims sent to their death by this repressive Islamic regime in the past 43 years simply because they were different. We pray for the families of the victims of these crimes and seek God’s comfort and peace for them.”
In response to the protests, Iranian authorities have cracked down on demonstrators. The government limited or shut down internet access in some areas. Police have reportedly shot at protestors. The death toll is estimated to be at least 154, with at least nine under the age of 18, reported Iran Human Rights, an NGO. Thousands have been arrested, including at least 35 journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the protests on Israel and the United States.
