While in some parts of the world women are uncertain about the hairstyles they want to have, in another covering one’s head no matter what hairstyle is worn could save a life. This is one of the reasons why this autumn is being marked by massive protests in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was apprehended in Tehran and taken to a “re-education center” for apparently not wearing her hijab properly. Thousands of women from all over the world went out onto the streets to protest and also cut their hair as a sign of solidarity. According to reports from Iran Human Rights, at least 90 have been killed in the latest Iranian protests and over 1,000 people are believed to have been detained. We approached several Iranian international experts from the DevelopmentAid database to find out more about the current situation in the country. For security reasons, some of the consultants requested that they remain anonymous. Check their answers below.
Key Takeaways:
- The largest anti-government protests in Iran since 2009 have been raging in 80 cities across the country, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was arrested in Tehran by the Guidance Patrol for not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards.
- A woman burning her hijab has become a dominant theme of the protests, representing both solidarity with Amini and resistance against the mandatory wearing of hijabs.
- Iranian diaspora communities and human rights activists have launched unprecedented rallies in over 150 cities throughout the world against the strict rules in the Islamic Republic.
- Internet access continues to be disrupted or completely blocked, especially on widely used messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram.
- Aside from women’s oppression, there are dozens of other causes that are fueling the protests: high inflation, unemployment, poverty, and a lack of freedom.
Are you in Iran at the moment? What is the current situation there?
“I am not currently in Iran, though closely following what is happening there through different news outlets, social media as well as directly from my family and friends and old colleagues who are still in the country. Every day, and in many cities across the country, people, mostly women and youth, come out onto streets demanding their rights, including women’s rights to their bodies and the way they dress. They are being dealt with by heavily armed police forces as well as plain-clothes militias (Basij) linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, using teargas, sticks, stun guns as well as shotguns and live rifle bullets. Simultaneously, there is close to a total internet shutdown and the filtering of almost all news and social media sites. Independent journalists, human rights lawyers and political activists and those who speak their minds and have a rather large follower base are being summarily arrested with no access to legal advice.”
“At the moment I’m out of Iran and living in another country, but my family and friends are still there, and I’m completely aware of the situation and what is happening these days.”
Who are the protestors in Iran and what do they want?
“The protestors tend to be young people who oppose strict Islamic dress codes and support greater personal and cultural freedom. The rioters on the other hand are opportunists seeking to overthrow the government and are opposed to theocratic rule. The rioters undermine the original protestors’ cause and experience has shown that many of them are likely to be linked to foreign governments and their intelligence agencies that have been seeking to undermine Iran’s economy and political influence for decades now.”
“As mentioned above, the protestors are a mix of different walks of life. Many of them represent youth, under 30 years old, and women with various social and religious backgrounds. One of their core demands is the removal of the laws and practices forcing women to cover their hair and all parts of their bodies and not wear certain types of clothes and shoes. Alongside the way they dress, women have been denied access to multiple other rights, such as the right to work or travel without their husband’s approval. They do not have a right to divorce or the custody of their children after divorce. There are certainly other demands, central to these is removing the restrictions on social and political liberties, stopping the deep-rooted fraud and embezzlement of public resources by the political elite and even overthrowing the government.”
“Among the Iranian protesters there are students, state and private sector employees, drivers, teachers (both university and high schools), lawyers, journalists, marketers, etc. This indicates that a huge section of people is not happy with the state of things. These are some reasons why the protesters are on the streets:
- Since the 1979 revolution in Iran led by the Ayatollah, the inflation rate has been running on average at 25%, sometimes it has reached 45% per year and at the moment it is more than 50%. Salaries did not increase in proportion to the inflation rate meaning that every year, people lost their purchasing power.
- By increasing the cost of living for the last 40 years (from 1979 to 2022), youngsters do not have enough money to make a living; hence, most of them are single and not able to get married. This situation leads to deep depression, especially among girls, whose lives are strictly regulated by Islamic law and Iranian traditions.
- Wearing hijabs is another issue that causes many Iranians to be angry.
- Natural resources such as oil, gas, mining etc. are in the control of the government and nobody can benefit from these.”
How do you think these protests will end?
“Iran has a history of intermittent riotous responses to government pressures. The riots will probably subside soon. But the original problem regarding the mandatory hijab will continue to manifest itself periodically and will not end, as both sides of this debate are firmly entrenched in their positions. In the long run, the protestors are likely to prevail due to generational changes and the tendency of such revolutions (i.e., the 1979 Iranian revolution) to soften up over time.”
“I wish I had a crystal ball but, in the absence of one, I reckon the social situation after these protests will not be the same. Women have assumed a central role which cannot be undone, this includes their demand for control over their bodies. From a political perspective, it is harder to foresee immediate changes although it is important to look historically into past unrests. After the war, and especially after a reformist president was elected in 1997, there was a positive mood expecting a more just and freer society and system. The first widespread protests, led by university students, happened in 1999 when the militia attacked a dormitory in Tehran. This resulted in street demonstrations for a few days before these were crushed by the police and militia forces. The next major unrest happened in 2009 after a highly suspicious and most probably fraudulent presidential election. The movement was called the green movement. It took more than a year for the government to curb the street demonstrations, with many people being killed on the streets and inside prisons and others facing long-term prison sentences including the house arrest of the two presidential candidates who challenged the results and their spouses. The next major unrest happened in 2017 in response to the collapse of certain investment and lending institutions linked with the political and military elite. Two years after that there was further widespread unrest in response to the increase in petrol prices. Both these rather economically-motivated unrests were brutally suppressed. What we see is a shortening cycle of unrest from 10 years to two to three years with minor unrests in between. Each of these is also followed by cracks in the societal support base for the government.”
“The same as many protests in the world over the years, these protests will mean freedom for the Iranian people. It might take more time than usual, but it will bring happiness in the end.”
What should the international community do in this regard?
“Absolutely nothing as this is an internal Iranian cultural issue. The “international community” has no mandate or business to interfere in such matters. It is the same “international community” that has imposed “crippling economic sanctions” on Iran for decades, including during a global pandemic. Any support they give to Iranian opposition groups would practically guarantee the latter’s failure. International civil society’s moral and strictly peaceful support for greater personal and political freedoms for women in Iran, on the other hand, would carry more weight. Such global expressions of solidarity by ordinary people (especially if they originate from the global South) would energize the women’s movement and pose questions for the Iranian authorities.”
“The first thing is a clear message of solidarity with the people of Iran. This solidarity needs to be shown in different ways, including meaningful coverage of the events and support for the free movement of information, including limiting the government’s ability to shut down internet. Global institutions need to give a clear message that the brutal response to the legitimate demands of citizens is not acceptable and those directly or indirectly engaged in this response should be held accountable. It is not a secret that many of the political and military elite have assets outside Iran and many of their children and close families are living in Western countries using funds stolen from Iran.”
Check out a list of international development experts from Iran here.
