Eye on Iran's Protests - December 7, 2023

The Islamic Republic’s security forces have deployed brutal violence to suppress the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran. The regime secretly executed another protester, the eighth known protester executed since the movement began in September 2022, bringing the total number of protesters killed by the regime to more than 500. Throughout this year, a broader execution spree has claimed the lives of over 700 individuals—many of whom are perceived as regime enemies—to create an environment of fear and intimidation.

Amnesty International reveals in a new report how Iran's security forces weaponized rape, gang rape, and other forms of sexual violence against protesters to crush the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.

A brave member of the Iranian diaspora waves a sign in London that says Hamas is ISIS. He is amplifying the Iranian people’s chants during the Woman, Life, Freedom rallies in Iran that said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is their ISIS. He was attacked afterward.

For the first time, a prominent Iranian opposition figure in exile expressed support for an Israeli military attack on Iran. “Should Israel strike the Islamic Republic's nuclear centers, I will welcome it,” Masih Alinejad said in an interview on the sidelines of the 2023 Halifax International Security Forum.

A video of Iranian students at Sharif University of Technology without the Islamic Republic's compulsory hijab at their graduation ceremony in Kish Island outrages the regime. The head of Iran’s Sharif University, Rasool Jalili, was fired following this incident.

The Islamic Republic has been executing prisoners—many of whom are perceived as enemies of the regime—at an alarming rate while the world’s attention is on Israel-Gaza. Activists say it has executed more than 700 people this year.

Milad Zohrevand, 21, was executed by the regime. He had been sentenced for allegedly murdering a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at a Woman, Life, Freedom rally last year and was denied a lawyer.

Undeterred by the threat of arrest, young Iranian women break the Islamic Republic’s anti-woman laws and challenge the authoritarian regime.

A group of plainclothes agents violently re-apprehend the dissident rap artist Toomaj Salehi on a street in the Iranian city of Babol.

Turkish authorities handed over Amir Tataloo, one of Iran’s most famous and controversial musicians and singers, to the Islamic Republic’s police.

British-Iranian activist and actress Nazanin Boniadi joins Dean Ayres Alyssa of George Washington University’s Elliot School for a discussion on the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, the ongoing struggle of the Iranian people against tyranny, the role of unity, and how to be an effective advocate agitating for democracy.