Hundreds of people have been murdered. This is why you need to care about Iran right now

Protests have been going on for over seven weeks following the death of Masha Amini

1 year ago

On 13th September 2022, 22-year-old Masha Amini was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran’s strict rules which require women covering their hair with a hijab or headscarf. On 16th September she died.

Reports surfaced showing officers beat her head with a baton. The police claim Masha suffered from a heart attack and to support this claim the authorities released footage of Masha collapsing in a police station. However the clip, alongside images of Masha in a coma, enraged the people of Iran. Protests have been happening since the day after Masha’s funeral, where some women ripped off their headscarves in solidarity. Since then the protests have become bigger and there are increasing demands for more freedom and an overthrow of the state.

Iran is currently facing one of its biggest shows of dissent following the death of Masha Amini and this is why you should care about it.

How are people protesting in Iran?

In videos online and out in the streets, women have been setting their headscarves on fire and cutting their hair. In public people are chanting “Woman, life, freedom” and “Death to the dictator”.

Men and teenage boys have also participated in protests and backed the demands of women.

How many people have been killed in the protests?

Non-state media and the internet has been suppressed in Iran so outlets are unsure on the specific death toll. However, a Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has claimed Iranian security have killed at least 326 people since protests erupted on a nationwide scale only two months ago. That figure includes 43 children and 25 women, this number is reportedly the “absolute minimum.”

The 326 deaths include at least 123 people killed in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, on Iran’s south-eastern border with Pakistan. Most of those were killed on 30th September when security forces opened fire on protestors. Activists have called it “Bloody Friday.”

Authorities have attempted to shut down protests with force. Iranian authorities have also charged at least 1,000 people in Tehran province for their alleged involvement in the protests. The Norway- based human rights group said dozens of protestors face “security-related charges” and are at risk of being executed.

On Friday night last week, United Nations experts urged Iranian authorities to “stop indicating people with charges punishable by death for participated, or alleged participation, in peaceful demonstrations” and to “stop using the death penalty as a tool to squash protests.”

Are authorities using the death penalty?

Another court in Tehran sentenced five others to prison terms between five and 10 years for “gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against national security and disturbing public order,” the judiciary website Mizan Online reported on Sunday.

This month, 272 of Iran’s 290 lawmakers demanded that judiciary apply the death penalty, in “an eye for an eye” retributive justice against those who “have harmed people’s lives and property with bladed weapons and firearms”.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, said at least 20 people were facing charges punishable with death, according to official information.

Mahmood said: “We are very concerned that the death sentences may be carried out hastily. The international community must send a strong warning to the Iranian authorities that implementation of the death sentence for protesters is not acceptable and will have heavy consequences.”

How many protestors have been charged?

More than 2,000 people have been charged, almost half of them in Tehran. The crackdown has also led to the arrest of dozens of activists, journalists and lawyers, whose continued detention has caused an outcry abroad.

One man, Hossein Ronaghi, was arrested in September and has been on hunger strike for over 50 days. He was taken into hospital by Iranian authorities. His family fear for his death because of a kidney condition and say his legs have been broken in prison.

What’s happening now?

Now as it currently stands, European states and the UK are putting pressure on Iran’s leaders. The EU has imposed sanctions on Iran’s interior minister and several senior police and military officials over their alleged roles in the security crackdown against anti-government protests.

These sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans imposed on 29 Iranian officials including Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, who the EU says is “responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran” due to police actions during the protests.