A massive crackdown by police on demonstrations that have erupted in many Iranian cities over the death of a young woman in custody has already seen at least six protesters killed, with hundreds injured and arrested. The protests have been sparked by the alleged police killing of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from the Kurdish town of Saqqez.
She had been arrested last week by the morality police, a branch of the Iranian state that seeks to enforce Islamic moral codes, notably dress rules. Amini wore a long black coat and scarf, but arresting officers said her clothing was not appropriate. Police officers reportedly severely beat her round the head while in transit to a notorious morality police centre in Tehran, where she went into a coma. The authorities claim she died of a heart attack although her family insists there was nothing wrong with her health when she was arrested.
While the largely spontaneous and leaderless protests have focussed on compulsory scarf-wearing, with many women publicly burning their hijabs, witnesses say they have received broad support over a long litany of grievances and anger over oppressive rules and economic hardship. Witnesses say protesters have been calling for an end to the Islamic Republic, chanting things like “Mullahs get lost,” “We don’t want an Islamic republic,” and “Death to the supreme leader.”
The protests appear to have wrongfooted the regime, which claims they are inspired by outside influences, but hardly any senior politician has been willing to defend the arrest. President Ebrahim Raisi, currently attending the UN General Assembly, promised investigations, saying Amini felt like his “own daughter”. A senior aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Khomenei has also promised an investigation. But the brutality of the morality police is renowned and clearly tolerated by the regime.
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The courageous protests, faced down by batons, bullets and gas, are the most significant challenge to the regime in recent years, a sign that below the surface tensions are boiling. Repressive means can only sustain it for so long.