women

Iran’s Athletes, Including Soccer Players at World Cup, are Boycotting National Anthem to Support Protests

I’m RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here’s what I’ve been following during the past week and what I’m watching for in the days ahead. ( RFE/ RL ) – A growing number of Iranian athletes are refusing to sing the national anthem or to celebrate their victories in solidarity with the months-long anti-establishment protests that have […]

Democratic Party

Young Voters Delivered Big Wins for Abortion Rights

OtherWords

By Ennedith Lopez | – When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer, it unleashed a wave of cruel new restrictions on reproductive freedom. But shredding a half-century-old constitutional right also unleashed another wave: voters. The “red wave” Republicans expected in this year’s midterms fell far short as younger generations mobilized to protect […]

Authoritarianism

Social Media shows Iranian Crowds setting fire to Khomeini’s House, in Generational Rejection of Islamic Republic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Reuters reports that social media sites carried video allegedly from Thursday night in the small town of Khomein in Iran, which appeared to show protesters setting fire to the childhood home of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Khomeini died in 1989. The house had […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian Women’s Demands for Freedom Must Be Heard

Human Rights Watch

By Rothna Begum, Senior Researcher, Women’s Rights Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – The current protests gripping Iran show no signs of abating. More than forty days since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini–who died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for breach of the country’s strict dress code–the […]

Authoritarianism

The Veil in Iran has been an enduring Symbol of Patriarchal Norms – but its Use has Changed depending on Who is in Power

The Conversation

By Amy Motlagh, University of California, Davis | – In images of the uprising that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, perhaps the most iconic ones, aside from that of Amini herself, are those of unveiled Iranian women photographed from behind, facing police barricades or raising a fist at the […]

Authoritarianism

Protesting Rapper’s Video Foretelling Iranian Regime’s Future Leads To Arrest As Fans Fear For His Life

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

( RFE?RL ) – Toomaj Salehi’s lyrical support for protesters in Iran has landed him behind bars before, but this time the popular rapper’s fortune-telling has fans and family members fearing for his life. Just days before his September 30 arrest, the 32-year-old Salehi released his latest music video, in which he makes foreboding predictions […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Thousands of Detained Protesters and Activists in Peril (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have escalated their assault against widespread dissent and protests through dubious national security charges against detained activists and grossly unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 31, 2022, the head of Tehran Province’s judiciary said that it had issued around 1,000 indictments against those arrested […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: hijab Protests reflect Society-wide Anger at Regime which trashes Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Conversation

By Saeed Bagheri, University of Reading | – The death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police in September for not wearing the hijab properly was a fracturing point, prompting Iranian women to come on to the streets en masse to protest the regime’s violence and injustice. But our understanding of these […]

Feminism

Iran: Protesters call for Move to a non-religious State. What Changes would that Bring?

The Conversation

By Hossein Dabbagh, University of Oxford | – My friend was in Tehran during protests after the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police (Gasht-e Ershad). My friend went into a grocery shop intending to buy milk. The seller refused to sell anything to her. “Why are you refusing?” she […]