Who can watch the stirring videos circulating worldwide of the extraordinarily brave young female protesters in Iran, some of them schoolgirls, without fearing for their safety? The most recent clip shows teenagers in their school taking off their headscarves and angrily chanting “Get lost” to a visiting member of the Basij military force.
There have been protests, we are told, in 80 towns and cities across Iran, demonstrations that exploded after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, fell into a coma after being detained by the morality police in Tehran and died in mid-September. Her family alleged the police beat her to death, while they insist she died of a heart attack.
It is the women of Iran who have led the uprisings at huge personal risk, chanting “death to the Ayatollah” and agitating around the slogan “Women, life, freedom”.
But this is Iran, a country under the grip of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and hardliner President Raisi. The Ayatollah’s playbook for punishing and suppressing uprisings is as cruel and effective as Vladimir Putin’s. In recent weeks, protesters have lost their lives; thousands have been arrested. The authorities have pressurised people to return to their homes and shut down social media.
We can debate how important these demonstrations are, and muse on the future, but the reality is there are powerful forces aligned against these young women and their supporters.
The likely outcome, according to many experts, is that they will be crushed by a regime that has kept control for 40 years. The BBC has recently reported on the death of Nika Shakarami who, aged 16, joined the Iran protests on September 20. Ten days later, on the day of her 17th birthday, her family are asked to go to Kahrizak prison to fetch her body. They are refused a funeral by the authorities, who go onto arrest her aunt and uncle, and later force him to denounce the uprisings to camera.
Worse yet, according to BBC reports her body is then stolen and secretly buried, to ensure that any funeral or burial site does not become a focus point for further protests and to bargain with the family for their silence.
Another young protester Hadis Najafi, 22, was shot in the neck and face on September 21. Persian BBC has reported that the security forces then withheld her body for two days until the family agreed to say publicly that she had died from a heart attack. This is not the work of a regime that wants reconciliation.
Any media reporting from Iran is riven with problems as there are so few access points on the ground for international reporters. We do not know quite how widespread the demonstrations have been. Clips played repeatedly can lead us to believe that the protests have far more velocity as a movement. And this lack of accurate information is another clue to how hard attaining success against the ruling regime will be.
The US has condemned the violence, as has the British Government. The European Union has threatened sanctions. Iran in turn has blamed Israel and US meddling. And ferociously pushed back at the EU and UK, warning them of repercussions.
This is not to say there is no hope. Iran has a proud history of demonstrating, and the resilience of their younger generations is humbling. Iran is an economic tinderbox as the Ayatollah will be aware — inflation at 80 per cent, 40 per cent of people living below the poverty line, continued disaffection with a conservative ruling elite and the brutish force of the Revolutionary Guards. Liberal voices in politics have been contained, reformists locked up.
But the Ayatollah is 83, and when he dies this could be a real moment for revolution. If you look at Iran’s population pyramid, those under 45 make up the vast majority and many want change, socially, politically, and economically. There may be some compromises that come out of this — a momentary retreat by the morality police. We should keep supporting and lauding the protesters’ bravery and we can hope for the young women of Iran, but we also need to remember that history has shown us that hope alone is not an effective policy.
Who can watch the stirring videos circulating worldwide of the extraordinarily brave young female protesters in Iran, some of them schoolgirls, without fearing for their safety? The most recent clip shows teenagers in their school taking off their headscarves and angrily chanting “Get lost” to a visiting member of the Basij military force.
There have been protests, we are told, in 80 towns and cities across Iran, demonstrations that exploded after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, fell into a coma after being detained by the morality police in Tehran and died in mid-September. Her family alleged the police beat her to death, while they insist she died of a heart attack.
It is the women of Iran who have led the uprisings at huge personal risk, chanting “death to the Ayatollah” and agitating around the slogan “Women, life, freedom”.
But this is Iran, a country under the grip of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and hardliner President Raisi. The Ayatollah’s playbook for punishing and suppressing uprisings is as cruel and effective as Vladimir Putin’s. In recent weeks, protesters have lost their lives; thousands have been arrested. The authorities have pressurised people to return to their homes and shut down social media.
We can debate how important these demonstrations are, and muse on the future, but the reality is there are powerful forces aligned against these young women and their supporters.
The likely outcome, according to many experts, is that they will be crushed by a regime that has kept control for 40 years. The BBC has recently reported on the death of Nika Shakarami who, aged 16, joined the Iran protests on September 20. Ten days later, on the day of her 17th birthday, her family are asked to go to Kahrizak prison to fetch her body. They are refused a funeral by the authorities, who go onto arrest her aunt and uncle, and later force him to denounce the uprisings to camera.
Worse yet, according to BBC reports her body is then stolen and secretly buried, to ensure that any funeral or burial site does not become a focus point for further protests and to bargain with the family for their silence.
Another young protester Hadis Najafi, 22, was shot in the neck and face on September 21. Persian BBC has reported that the security forces then withheld her body for two days until the family agreed to say publicly that she had died from a heart attack. This is not the work of a regime that wants reconciliation.
Any media reporting from Iran is riven with problems as there are so few access points on the ground for international reporters. We do not know quite how widespread the demonstrations have been. Clips played repeatedly can lead us to believe that the protests have far more velocity as a movement. And this lack of accurate information is another clue to how hard attaining success against the ruling regime will be.
The US has condemned the violence, as has the British Government. The European Union has threatened sanctions. Iran in turn has blamed Israel and US meddling. And ferociously pushed back at the EU and UK, warning them of repercussions.
This is not to say there is no hope. Iran has a proud history of demonstrating, and the resilience of their younger generations is humbling. Iran is an economic tinderbox as the Ayatollah will be aware — inflation at 80 per cent, 40 per cent of people living below the poverty line, continued disaffection with a conservative ruling elite and the brutish force of the Revolutionary Guards. Liberal voices in politics have been contained, reformists locked up.
But the Ayatollah is 83, and when he dies this could be a real moment for revolution. If you look at Iran’s population pyramid, those under 45 make up the vast majority and many want change, socially, politically, and economically. There may be some compromises that come out of this — a momentary retreat by the morality police. We should keep supporting and lauding the protesters’ bravery and we can hope for the young women of Iran, but we also need to remember that history has shown us that hope alone is not an effective policy.
Searching for the perfect thing to watch in anxious times
Maybe it’s the economic and political turbulence that’s making me squeamish but my night-time viewing this week has caused my heart to thump. Wednesday night, I tried three new series, each one ramping up the anxiety.
First was the drama about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, the current number one series on Netflix. It took 20 minutes for me to check out before I was forced to watch a second gruesome murder.
I changed to The Bear, about a handsome young American chef. What could go wrong, I thought while snuggling up to my husband, a restaurateur. Well, as one critic points out The Bear is a “fast and furious kitchen nightmare”. It’s brilliant, but I don’t need shouting and emotional despair — we had enough with the Tory conference. Next was This England, with Kenneth Branagh playing Boris Johnson during Covid-19. But who can watch this without blubbing as families say goodbye to their loved ones over iPads? So, for those who, like me, require some escapism, go and see Mrs Harris Goes to Paris. Dior dresses, roses, romance, and Thursday evening at the Curzon cinema — dear reader, it was the perfect date night.
Three cheers for Truss’s friendly noises
Even if Liz Truss cannot stop the bitter infighting in her party, it is warming to hear on other fronts she has finally decided to be less combative. There are lots of friendly noises around the Northern Ireland Protocol at last, with both sides talking up compromise. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and his counterpart in the European Commission soon begin intensive talks. Let’s hope that our new PM understands we are worn out. We want progress, not more battles.
