One year after the death of Mahsa Amini

Amini, also known as Jina, is a 22-year-old woman from Kurdistan province who came to the capital Tehran with her family.

While leaving a Tehran subway station with family members, she was arrested by Iranian moral police for failing to comply with mandatory headscarf regulations, which had been in place since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

One year after the Mahsa Amini incident, the issue of headscarves remains a painful one in Iran (Figure 1). — Protesters carried photos of Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by Iranian moral police on September 16, 2022. Photo: CNN

She was put into a truck and taken to a re-education center where women were instructed on how to dress appropriately. Surveillance video released by Iranian law enforcement shows her collapsing there and being taken to a hospital, where she died a few days later.

Iranian authorities said she had a pre-existing medical condition, but her parents refuted this, saying she may have been beaten.

A protest first formed outside the hospital where she was taken in Tehran, followed by demonstrations in her hometown of Saqqez, which then spread to cities and towns across the country.

Organizations say more than 500 people have been killed, including at least 70 minors, in these protests. The official death toll released by the Iranian authorities is over 200.

Thousands of people were also arrested during the protests, most of them released after being granted amnesty by Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei in February.

But some people, including a number of journalists, remain imprisoned. In addition, seven people were executed after being convicted by Iranian courts in cases related to the protests.

In Iran, many women have chosen to change their attire and remove their headscarves. However, headscarves remain mandatory under Iranian law and religious doctrine, and the authorities have signaled that this will not change.

New headscarf laws are expected to be approved soon, which lawmakers say could introduce new penalties for women deemed to be in violation.

Internet access remains restricted in Iran. All major global messaging and social media platforms, along with numerous websites, have been blocked.

On Friday and Saturday, security forces, including counter-terrorism special forces, were deployed to several squares and main streets in Tehran.

Speaking on a television program earlier this week, Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib reiterated Iran's position that the "riots" and "terrorism" in Iran have been instigated and supported by foreign actors, particularly from the West.

Iranian media on Saturday reported on the dismantling of a “network of rioters and vandals” in several of the country’s cities.

Mai Anh (according to Al Jazeera, AFP)

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