Resilience of Iran’s protests

Iranians are not giving up.

A three-day strike across the country this week marks yet more pressure and protest against the ruling regime, despite a violent crackdown by authorities.

That the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September have continued for so long and so strongly is a testament to the resilience, bravery and determination of the Iranian people.

Amini, 22, had travelled to Tehran from her hometown in Kurdistan province. She was stopped by the morality police who claimed she was not in compliance the dress code that requires women to wear a hijab and be covered up. She was taken for a detention centre for “training.” Three days later, she was dead.

Her death became a catalyst uniting Iranians of all sects, backgrounds and religions, including women who wear hijab and women who don’t.

Since then, many more have died protesting the regime’s oppressive rules. State officials have confirmed over 300 people have been killed; activists believe the number is much higher.

For a short time this past weekend, there were hopes that the regime was softening. On Sunday, various media outlets reported that Iran’s chief prosecutor Mohamed Jafar Montazeri had suggested that the reviled morality police would be shut down, along with a possible review of the mandatory hijab law.

“We are working fast on the issue of hijab and we are doing our best to come up with a thoughtful solution to deal with this phenomenon that hurts everyone’s heart,” said Montazeri, according to state-affiliated media ISNA.

Hopes though that the morality police would be shut may have been premature as Montazeri’s comments were quickly dismissed by state media.

Yet even those actions would not likely quell long-simmering anger toward a regime that has repressed its population for decades. Neither would reforms to a law that forces women to cover their hair, in clear violation of international human rights norms.

The episode highlights how important it will be for both protesters at home, and supporters abroad, to remain steadfast in calling for the citizenry’s full human rights and freedoms. Anything less would be a capitulation and would only embolden the regime further.

Canada, along with other global allies, must similarly remain steadfast behind calls for deep reform and accountability of the regime’s rulers and of its anti-democratic policies, including those that are anti-women.

“The international community and global media must not allow the Iranian authorities to pull the wool over their eyes,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa in a statement.

Morayef highlighted that compulsory veiling is entrenched in the country’s penal code along with other laws that make Iranian women the target of arbitrary arrest and detention and deny them access to public institutions including hospitals, schools, government offices and airports if they do not cover their hair.

“Until the day all these laws and regulations are scrapped, the same violence that resulted in the arrest and death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini will continue against millions of other women and girls,” he said.

Women have long been de facto symbols of the regime’s oppression as it cynically deploys its misguided cloak of religiosity to curtail freedoms.

In cities across Canada and around the world, freedom for all Iranians has become a priority for its diaspora communities.

“The youth of Iran are rising against tyranny, dictatorship and all the brutalities that people of Iran suffered in the last 44 years,” Masoud Khalkhali, an Iranian-Canadian mathematics professor at Western University told a reporter during a rally last week.

International pressure therefore must remain firm. For its part, Ottawa announced a fifth package of economic sanctions last month that will prevent business dealings with companies linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran’s military, as well as various culpable officials.

Next week, the United Nations will decide whether to expel Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women. While Iran is by far not the only member country clearly curtailing the rights of women, the symbolism would be welcome.