Attribution to Darafsh – Own Work

It has been 41 days since the death of Mahsa Amini while she was being detained for not properly wearing a hijab. According to Human Rights activists, in Iran, protests have raged in over 125 Iranian cities. Over 275 have died and 14,000 have been detained.

The Iranian regime has gone full tilt on intimidation tactics. In many cases, bodies of deceased protesters have not been released to families. In other cases, authorities do release bodies only on the condition that families do not hold funerals, nor talk to the media. The regime has conducted late night raids of known organizers and taken them away. Others have received threats that their families are at risk and their wives will be raped. Authorities have raided schools and beaten school kids while taking away others so that they can be re-educated.

Despite. the intimidation tactics, the protests continue. Sooner or later the regime will have to face the hard truth that they cannot win a PR battle where women and children are being beaten and killed. A new slogan has become the rallying cry of protesters.

“Jin, jiyan, azadi! —Woman, life, freedom!”

There have been past protests in Iran and they have been crushed. This time might be different, given the mix of the protesters and the numbers involved.

Iran is ruled by a hard line theocracy. Voters in the US need to take a hard look at what is happening in Iran. Women have been suppressed, in Iran, for 43 years, since the Iranian revolution. There is a trend towards the suppression of women, in the US. The overturning of Roe vs Wade is evidence enough. The extreme right, with a large evangelical Christian base, led by election deniers are working on a takeover of American democracy, even as this is being chirped. Election deniers are running for a number of offices. Election deniers are infiltrating election processes at local levels. Election deniers, led by Trump, are already casting doubts on election results even though the elections have not happened yet. Their approach is “either our candidate wins or the election was rigged” Books are being banned. Education curriculums are being changed in favour of extreme right philosophies. In a sense, what happened in Iran in 1979 can and is happening in the US. Those who scoff and say it can’t happen only needs to remember that a reality show host became President and played a major role in a violent insurrection attempt at the Capitol.

All I got.