On Sept. 13, Iran's morality police arrested Mahsa Amini in the capital Tehran for allegedly wearing her hijab headscarf improperly.
Just three days later, the 22-year-old woman died in custody. A large number of Iranians took to the streets and violent protests erupted across the country after a legal request for the official announcement of the cause of her death was refused.
Iranian women have been prominent in recent protests. When the current regime in Iran announced the imposition of dress restrictions on women after the Islamic Revolution, many Iranian women held demonstrations to express their anger. Since then, dress regulations, including the hijab, have been a controversial issue in Iran. Besides, many Iranian women have experienced trouble with the public morality unit of the national police.
Iran's tightening of dress codes for women this year has already angered them. So Amini's death quickly ignited the ire of Iranian women, making them the vanguard of the protests.
It is worth noting that the interval between the demonstrations of the Iranian people has become shorter. On the one hand, this is because the Iranian people have a tradition of taking to the streets to protest. On the other hand, it is also because Iran's internal contradictions are increasingly sharp and erupt at every opportunity.
After demonstrations broke out in several cities over the death of Amini, there have been many remarks on Twitter and other international social media that Iran is undergoing a "revolution," "uprising," and that "the Iranian regime is in jeopardy."
Some former Iranian dissidents, who have lived abroad for a long time or were even naturalized in other countries, play a particularly active role in the current mobilization on social media, and some even claim to be "the leader" of demonstrations in Iran. Such remarks neither conform to the reality of Iran nor contribute to the ongoing struggle of the Iranian people, or even bring trouble to the real protesters living in the country. What the Iranian people need more is proper support based on objective facts, rather than the parties adding their own will to the Iranian demonstrators.
Generally speaking, several demonstrations in Iran after 2009 lacked organizers and leaders, and the financial resources of the demonstrators were also limited. Furthermore, the Arab Spring has caused turmoil in several Middle Eastern countries to this day and the Iranian people certainly do not want to see their own country repeat such a disaster. In fact, most Iranians are more eager for reform than revolution. Thus, every Iranian protest in the past few years lacked continuity. While the popular protests in Iran sparked by the death of Amini have taken on greater strength, their impact on the Islamic Republic cannot be overstated so far.
It is very regrettable that in recent years, there have been some violent actions leading to deaths in the large-scale demonstrations in Iran. Many Iranians believe that even peaceful protests will be brutally suppressed by the regime. Iranian officials often accuse hostile forces of taking advantage of the public protests to carry out anti-regime and anti-Iranian riots. Demonstrations and riots are both contentious issues and coexisting phenomena in Iran.
When demonstrations take place in Iran, it is indeed possible for some forces, including opponents of the Iranian regime, to take the opportunity to pursue their own goals. However, hostile forces at home and abroad are often not the initiators of the demonstrations in Iran. Iranian policymakers certainly need to guard against and combat hostile forces, but at the same time, they should at least give equal attention to why people are increasingly taking to the streets to protest.
As far as the demonstrations triggered by the death of Amini are concerned, the participants in Iran have shown greater courage and have lasted for a relatively long time, which the Iranian regime needs to take seriously. At present, some Iranian women no longer wear headscarves when they go out, and college students have also made a louder voice of resistance.
So far, although the regime in Iran is still able to control the overall situation of the country, the Iranian people's pursuit of freedom and demands for reform have obviously reached a higher level, and their voices cannot continue to be ignored.
To a large extent, people taking to the streets to protest are already the result of the rulers' wrongdoing. If the demands of the demonstrators cannot be actively addressed, it will be a more serious mistake for the rulers. This is not a time when simply cutting off the internet can make your views widely accepted. For any regime, it is very dangerous to allow contradictions to deteriorate without taking effective measures to ease them.
