Iranian Protests Continue as Women Burn Hijabs Following Death of Mahsa Amini

(Photo : Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
The death in detention of a woman jailed for violating hijab laws served as the impetus for Iran's growing protests led by women.

Hundreds of Iranians have taken to the streets in protest as women burn their hijabs in a show of support for Mahsa Amini, the woman who lost her life last week after being arrested over strict hijab laws.

The demonstrations started out small outside the Tehran hospital where the 22-year-old victim died. However, protests were racing across the country by Tuesday in a burst of grief, anger, and defiance. Many of the demonstrations were led by women who burned their headscarves, cut their hair, and chanted; "Death to the dictator."

Women Burn Hijabs

Outrage over several issues at once, including reports that Amini was abused in jail before she collapsed and fell into a coma and the priorities of the Iranian government, is what's driving the protesters' ferocity. Ebrahim Raisi, the ultraconservative president of Iran, imposed severe dress codes and strengthened the despised morality police during a period of general economic hardship.

Furthermore, protesters are supporting the anguish of Amini's family, ethnic Kurds from a rural area of Iran, whose expressions of pain and shock have resonated across the country, as per the Washington Post.

Prior to her arrest, the victim had no known medical conditions, according to the victim's family, who questioned how she could have caught the attention of police authorities. Mahsa's father, Amjad Amini, said that even a 60-year-old woman was not as covered up as his daughter.

Several rights groups said that at least seven people have been killed in the demonstrations, which are considered the largest in Iran since protests erupted in 2019 over the cutting of fuel subsidies.

According to CNN, video footage of one of the protests showed a massive crowd cheering as a woman lifted a pair of scissors to her hair, exposed, without a hijab in sight. The large group of people, mostly men, roared as the woman chopped off her ponytail and raised her fist in the air.

Iranian Protests

The move on Tuesday night was a powerful act of defiance in the Iranian city of Kerman, where women are required by law to wear hijabs in public. On Wednesday, authorities said that three people, including a member of the security forces, have been killed in the unrest, which has stretched into a fifth day following Amini's death.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has made no mention of the protests during a speech on Wednesday to veterans and military commanders commemorating the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988.

In the western city of Kermanshah, a prosecutor said that two people were killed during "riots" on Tuesday. The official IRNA state news agency said that a police "assistant" was killed and four others were injured during protests in Shiraz, the capital city of Fars province in southwestern Iran.

In a Twitter post on Friday, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said, "Mahsa Amini's death after injuries sustained in custody for an "improper" hijab is appalling. Our thoughts are with her family. Iran must end its violence against women for exercising their fundamental rights. Those responsible for her death should be held accountable," Iran International reported.