Iran protests: What caused them? Are they different this time? Will the regime fall?

euronews (in English)

All you need to know about the Iran protests and the death of Mahsa Amini.

Transcript

00:00 If I may quote a friend of mine, she said before the revolution we felt that all doors

00:13 are open. After the revolution, it all changed.

00:20 Many women in Iran are saying that they have had enough, frustrated by an erosion of their

00:24 rights after the 1979 revolution and following the death of Masa Amini in the custody of

00:30 the morality police, that frustration has boiled over and into anger.

00:35 Masa was 22 and arrested for allegedly not complying with government standards on wearing

00:41 the hijab. She never left custody alive and since then, women have been burning their

00:47 head scarves and cutting their hair in protest. And they're rallying cry in the streets and

00:52 online, women, life, freedom.

00:55 Women they have been participating in almost all the protests during the Islamic Republic

01:02 but now their role has been changed. Now they are playing a role of leadership.

01:10 It is inspiring that after decades of struggle against these compulsory veiling laws, their

01:16 cries for being able to choose what to wear is finally being heard at the international

01:23 level.

01:24 Supported by many men and boys, women are calling for bodily autonomy and fundamental

01:29 freedoms and after decades of economic decline, protesters in cities and rural areas are also

01:35 demanding regime change. With Gen Z conscious of the fact that elsewhere, life looks different.

01:42 This is a younger generation who is very well connected to the outside world and knows how

01:52 other young people live, especially in the West. So they would like to follow that example.

02:01 This is the revolution of the young people led by women.

02:06 The fear barrier is broken. So look just at the pictures. Very young girls, they burn

02:17 their head scarves, they're cutting off their hair. And look at the students at high school,

02:23 at the school, how they are reacting to the officials. That's really different from all

02:30 the protests in the past. They compare themselves with others, asking themselves why I have

02:39 not this kind of freedom in my country. They are ready, I think, to pay the price.

02:49 Their bravery has been met with a brutal crackdown by authorities and according to data from

02:54 the Center for Human Rights in Iran, as of the 31st of October, at least 283 people have

03:01 been killed and over 14,000 arrested with reports that no age group is being spared.

03:07 It is also very worrisome that they are taking young, you know, elementary and high school

03:16 students and taking them in these reformation setups and teaching them how to behave and

03:24 how to indoctrinate them just because their children in elementary and middle school are

03:31 also protesting.

03:34 And with social media playing a key role in mobilizing young people, authorities are

03:39 also taking their crackdown online with widespread internet blackouts.

03:44 We got some problems with the internet, the internet blackout, filtering of the social

03:49 platforms imposed by the Iranian authorities. I can confirm that for us as journalists to

03:55 receiving and verifying the trusted information is a very, very difficult duty right now and

04:04 we are struggling.

04:05 And that means it is hard to say whether these protests will be able to achieve their ultimate

04:10 aims. From what can be verified, many believe that this uprising could pose one of the most

04:15 serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since it came to be just over four decades

04:20 ago. And that has prompted a response from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has once again

04:25 accused external powers of stoking the unrest.

04:29 To call them agents of Israel and America was a very tired rationale that Iran's supreme

04:36 leader has used to justify his brutal rules. So many people thought it's really the last

04:41 words of a dictator who refuses to acknowledge reality.

04:47 And what about the response from the West? The EU has sanctioned Iran's morality police

04:51 saying that it was responsible for the death of Masah Amani, as well as the Iranian law

04:56 enforcement forces over the subsequent crackdown on protesters and a key official who coordinated

05:02 the internet shutdown. Iran promptly responded with the announcement of levies against 20

05:07 foreign-based institutions and individuals. Levies the bloc has dismissed as politically

05:13 motivated. And Iranians are calling for the international pressure to be maintained, a

05:19 call that the United Nations seems to be heeding.

05:21 In the absence of any domestic channels of accountability, continuing absence of domestic

05:28 channels of accountability, I would say and I would stress once again that the international

05:33 community has a responsibility, I therefore have called for the prompt establishment of

05:40 an independent investigative mechanism in all human rights violations leading up to

05:45 and since the death of Gina Masah Amani.

05:49 But is that enough?

05:51 The tech community, businesses in IT can certainly help when it comes to ass-waging, so to say,

06:00 the internet shutdown and the cut in mobile communications that is taking place in Iran.

06:06 But also governments should not only go through the processes of UN resolutions, having a

06:13 resolution that mandates a kind of investigation into what is actually going on, which would

06:21 put Iran under pressure, but it can also help directly people who are there on the ground,

06:28 maybe who have to flee, they should be receiving asylum, political asylum in countries that

06:34 want to support this.

06:36 For those still in the country though, the message is clear, whether this uprising succeeds

06:42 or fails, the regime will likely face more challenges like this one.

06:47 Each generation has their own request, their desire, so if the authorities want to keep

06:55 alive their system, they need to listen to their people.

07:02 This is the first basic rule.

07:06 They had more than four decades to improve the situation, especially for the women's

07:10 rights and the young generation.

07:13 You know, Iran is a very, very young country.

07:18 More than 60% of this population are less than 30, but look at the protests.

07:25 According to the official figures, more than 40% of the people who have been arrested are

07:32 less than 20.

07:33 If the Iranian official wants to do something, it's today.

07:40 Tomorrow is too late.

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