Despite crackdowns, direct shootings, detentions, public executions and the looming execution of protesters, Iranians continue the protests and labor strikes that began on September 16.
It stems from the brutal murder of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Jina Amini (formally known as Martha because of ethnic discrimination), for showing a few strands of her hair. there is Her needless death triggered the daily pain of violence, harassment and humiliation Iranian women have experienced for decades. Since then, her three groups of youth, women and Kurds have been at the forefront of the protests. Jina Amini embodies all three of her.
At least 488 people died in the riot. The reason the Iranians call their nameless, leaderless movement an irreversible revolution is because they have found themselves at rock bottom. The economy is stagnant, civilians are oppressed, activists, artists and intellectuals are imprisoned, and the country is isolated from the world stage. Unlike their parents, who wanted reform, and their grandparents, who believed the 1979 revolution would bring justice, Gen Z can’t see the future.
Young people see online that, in addition to being hopeless, Iranians are being punished in many other parts of the world to enjoy and even take for granted . Elsewhere, women can sing and dance, couples can hold hands, and friends can clink glasses of wine.
Before the Iranians concluded that revolution was the only solution, they hoped the government would embrace reforms despite their grandfather’s devastating consequences in 1979. . The Iranian people voted for the self-proclaimed reformist Presidents Muhammad Khatami (1997-2005) and Hassan Rouhani (2013-2021). They were unable to effect change. Arbitrary arrests and state-sponsored killings have intensified under current President Ebrahim Raisi.
The Iranians had no choice but to stand up. If bullets don’t kill them, substandard roads and staggering rates of car accidents, air pollution, lack of access to vital medicines due to sanctions, or growing poverty.It’s not just the people who are suffering in Iran. . Lakes are drying up, trees are dying, and animals are dying out.
Despite an ongoing wave of anger and opposition, the government has failed to offer meaningful policy changes and has only doubled down on repression. What must change is the relationship between the United States, the world, and Iran’s head of state. This means the Biden administration needs to fundamentally change its Iranian policy, which has so far been largely focused on resuming the nuclear deal.
There are more cracks in the Iranian government today than there were in Egypt and Tunisia in December 2020 before its overthrow. Something fundamental has changed in Iranian society. They can no longer tolerate the violence and tyranny of the ruling state.
The democratic transition will not happen overnight, nor will it be peaceful and simple. But Washington must create policies to support that transition.
