Iran protests: Defiant #MahsaAmini protesters push back against strengthened morality police’s hijab patrols
Efforts to tighten restrictions on women in Iran have reignited the protest movement that saw the country’s streets flooded with furious Iranians for more than half a year.
Calls to commemorate Mahsa Jina Amini, the Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody last year, have rocketed on social media in the wake of announcements strengthening the country’s morality police.
The hashtag which means “the anniversary of Mahsa” has been posted almost 350,000 times since mid-June, according to Sky News analysis of data from Talkwalker, a social listening platform.
Amini’s death prompted almost daily demonstrations across the country, with protesters calling for regime change in what has become known as the Women Life Freedom movement or the #MahsaAmini movement.
Amini, 22, died just days before her birthday in September last year after being arrested for reportedly not wearing her hijab (head covering) correctly.
By December, in an apparent concession to the protesters, Iran reduced the role of the country’s morality police, who enforce religious rules, such as the compulsory wearing of head coverings.
But earlier this month, patrols monitoring women’s clothing resumed publicly. Women not wearing a hijab can be potentially detained.
Although the large-scale protests have dwindled under the force of the state’s violent crackdown, many Iranian women are still refusing to wear a head covering in public.
Videos showing the treatment of women in Iran have begun to circulate more widely once again after the news broke on Sunday that the morality police’s position would be strengthened.
In this clip, a young woman in jeans and a white top is being physically grabbed and pushed by a woman dressed in conservative clothing in a side street of a trendy Tehran neighbourhood.
Another video shows a similar confrontation, this time in the city of Karaj.
The young woman has been challenged because she is not wearing a head covering. She tells the person filming: “I’m not afraid of you, or anybody else.”
Protesters’ faces are usually blurred in videos like these, but this time the woman’s face is visible. Sky News has decided to obscure her identity for the woman’s safety.
The watermark on the video suggests it was first circulated among groups linked to the Iranian security force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), and Sky News has found the video has been shared in regime-linked groups on messaging app Telegram.
However, it has since been widely shared by protesters who praise her bravery.
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British-Iranian journalist Sahar Zand spoke to protesters, and found out what happened to the demonstrations.
Videos like these are shared online by Iranian protesters in the hope of drawing the attention of the international community.
Professor Ali Ansari, director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews, explains that the “armed peace” between the regime and the protesters has now shifted.
He said: “The protesters have felt that they’ve gone as far as they could for that particular time and they needed to regroup.
“The regime felt it needed to ‘calm things down’. Over the past few months they’ve built up this narrative that it’s time to bring this back but actually adherence to the veil in a lot of the big cities has really fallen away very, very badly as far as they’re concerned.”
Professor Ansari said it’s been estimated that around 20% of women in Tehran aren’t wearing the veil at all, which he describes as “an astonishing level” of the population.
A woman walks down a street in Iran with her hair uncovered
He said: “I suspect what will happen is that you’re going to see these things will go viral and things will pick up again and anger will build up. The likelihood is it will generate further riots or demonstrations. Perhaps not immediately, but it’ll be a matter of time before someone else is killed by the morality police.”
The regime has regularly throttled internet access within the country in an attempt to limit its citizen’s connection to the wider world, something Netblocks, an organisation that monitors internet freedom, says is still happening now.
Diana Nammi, the executive director of the UK-based Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organisation (IKWRO), told Sky News the Iranian government is attempting to suppress the movement, using violence and intimidation, but that women will continue to protest.
She said: “In spite of the danger, women in Iran will not stand down.
“So many are demonstrating their defiance against the repression by going out, without wearing the hijab. The movement is like a continuous fire burning under the ashes, with sparks flying all across the country.”
More than 500 demonstrators have lost their lives and thousands have been arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Several protesters have been executed by the state.
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A police officer has been injured after a night of violent protests outside an asylum hotel in Dublin – with six arrests made.
Bricks were thrown and fireworks were discharged outside the Citywest Hotel – with glass bottles used as missiles and a police van set on fire.
A Garda helicopter was also targeted with lasers, and the police service says some of those on the streets were seen carrying garden forks.
Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Commissioner Justin Kelly added: “This was obviously not a peaceful protest. The actions this evening can only be described as thuggery. This was a mob intent on violence.
“We will now begin the process of identifying those who committed crimes and we will bring those involved in this violence to justice.”
It is the second night of demonstrations after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back – and water cannon was deployed at the scene.
A line of officers was preventing the protesters from approaching the hotel.
Police officers block protesters outside the hotel. Pic: PA
‘Those involved will be brought to justice’
Ireland’s premier, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, paid tribute to the officers who were on the frontline of the protests.
“There can be no justification for the vile abuse against them, or the attempted assaults and attacks on members of the force that will shock all right-thinking people,” he said.
Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan said those involved in the violence will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
‘No excuse’ for violence
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.”
He said attacks on officers would “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed.”
The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
A police van has been set on fire and missiles have been thrown at officers as protesters gathered outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Dublin.
It is the second night of demonstrations outside the Citywest Hotel after an alleged sexual assault in its vicinity in the early hours of Monday morning.
A large crowd has gathered in the area and members of the Garda’s public order unit have been deployed.
Footage from the scene showed a Garda vehicle on fire as well as several protesters displaying Irish flags.
Many protesters carried Republic of Ireland flags
Some of the crowd threw stones and other missiles at the public order officers as they moved the protesters back.
A Garda helicopter hovered overhead and a water cannon was deployed on the scene.
Ireland’s justice minister, Jim O’Callaghan, said those involved will be brought to justice.
“The scenes of public disorder we have witnessed at Citywest tonight must be condemned,” he said.
“People threw missiles at Gardai, threw fireworks at them and set a Garda vehicle on fire.
“This is unacceptable and will result in a forceful response from the Gardai.
“Those involved will be brought to justice.”
The minister said a man had been arrested and had appeared in court in relation to the alleged assault in the vicinity of the hotel.
He added: “While I am not in a position to comment any further on this criminal investigation, I have been advised that there is no ongoing threat to public safety in the area.
He said attacks on gardai will “not be tolerated”, adding: “Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. Violence is not.
“There is no excuse for the scenes we have witnessed tonight.”
It was the second night of protest outside the hotel, which is being used as state accommodation for people seeking international protection. The demonstration on Monday night passed without a significant incident.
It comes two years after anti-immigrant demonstrators triggered a major riot in the centre of Dublin after three young children were stabbed.
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There are no plans for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in person in the near future, according to a White House official.
The presidents last week agreed to meet in Budapest after a phone call Mr Trump called “extremely frank and trustful”.
The US leader suggested it was possible it could happen within a fortnight, though no date was set.
However, it appears that’s now off the table – and there are fears the meeting could be shelved altogether due to Russia‘s rigid stance on the Ukraine war.
The White House official, speaking to Sky’s US partner network NBC, said secretary of state Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken on Tuesday.
The call was described as “productive” but the official added there was no plan for the presidents to meet “in the immediate future”.
The last Trump-Putin meeting was in Alaska in August, but it ended without any meaningful progress towards a ceasefire.
The Budapest plan was announced shortly before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Washington last Friday to try to get approval for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
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Why Tomahawks are off the table
Mr Zelenskyy accused the Russian leader of acting out of fear Ukraine could get the green light and the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia.
In his nightly address on Tuesday, he said Russia “almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy” after it became clear Mr Trump had backed away from any decision on the Tomahawks.
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Professor Michael Clarke answers your questions on the Ukraine war.
Two US officials told Reuters that plans for the Budapest meeting had stalled over Russia’s insistence any peace deal must give it control of all of the Donbas region.
Those terms are said to have been reiterated over the weekend in a private communique known as a “no paper”.
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The Kremlin’s refusal to budge effectively rejects Mr Trump’s latest assessment that the frontlines should be frozen as they are.
The president shifted position last week after previously telling the UN General Assembly that Ukraine could win back all the land it has lost.
Read more:
Putin’s ‘not so secret weapon’ | Ukraine war Q&A
UK ‘ready to spend over £100m’ on possibly sending troops to Ukraine
Ukraine and European nations issued a joint statement on Tuesday insisting “international borders must not be changed by force” and accusing Russia of “stalling tactics”.
But, in an apparent effort to keep the US leader onside, it added: “We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.”
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Trump: ‘We can end this war quickly’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave the impression his country was in no rush to arrange another Trump-Putin meeting, saying on Tuesday “preparation is needed, serious preparation”.
Such talk is likely to increase concerns Russia does not want to stop fighting and is “playing” President Trump – all while continuing to launch drone barrages at Ukrainian cities.
Russia currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine after its invasion in February in 2022. It also annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Meanwhile, NATO’s secretary general Mark Rutte is travelling to Washington to meet with President Trump on Wednesday.
He will “discuss various aspects related to NATO’s support to Ukraine and to the US-led efforts towards lasting peace”, an official for the alliance said.
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