"Every few years, uprisings erupt across Iran and each wave of resistance is deeper and more widespread than the one before. In 2022, it was women who led the Woman, Life, Freedom movement after the murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the country's morality police, and it revolutionised my country. Today, women wear what they want, go out in public with their boyfriends even live with them without fear of being arrested. Women earned these rights with their lives."
"The regime's response has been brutal. Human rights organisations report security forces shooting into crowds of largely peaceful protesters. I have seen heartbreaking images of families desperately looking for their loved ones among hundreds of body bags. The true death toll remains unknown, but reports suggest more than 2,000 people have been killed. Given the scale of the protests and the footage of violent clashes, the real number is probably far higher."
A female activist recounts imprisonment over 40 years ago, eight years in Evin prison, and torture. Uprisings recur across Iran, each wave deeper and more widespread. The 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement followed Mahsa Amini's murder and expanded women's freedoms, including dress and public behavior, earned at great cost. In late December 2025 a new uprising began in a Tehran bazaar with demands mirroring those from the 1980s: end poverty, corruption, unemployment, the right to organize, and end repression. Workers lack labor rights, students face arrest and execution, and women continue fighting for basic rights. Security forces have responded with lethal violence, mass arrests, and forced confessions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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