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Never Forget Mahsa Amini
Two years after the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police, women and girls in Iran continue to endure brutal oppression.
The killing of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, by Iran’s “morality police” in September 2022 ignited a wave of protests across the country and beyond, marking one of the most significant uprisings in recent Iranian history.
Initially, Ms. Amini was detained for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, which mandates women to wear the hijab in public. Her subsequent death in custody, under suspicious circumstances, outraged Iranians, especially young women, who saw her as a symbol of the state’s repression of personal freedoms.
Protests swiftly spread to cities across Iran, with demonstrators chanting slogans against the regime and calling for justice for Amini. Women, many defiantly removing or burning their hijabs, became the face of the movement: “Women, Life, Freedom.”
The protests soon broadened to encompass grievances over political oppression, economic hardships, and gender inequality. For a short time, it seemed to outside observers as if the protests might bring an end to Iran’s brutal ruling regime. What can’t last forever, has to end sometime.
But, alas, it wasn’t to be.