Eye on Iran's Protests - October 30, 2022

A protest movement is sweeping Iran in the aftermath of the killing of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the so-called “morality police.” UANI’s Eye on Iran's Protests is a daily news and events round-up to increase awareness of this movement and the regime’s brutal response. Now is the time to support the Iranian people.

Facing A Wave Of Public Anger, Iran’s Regime Could Be In A Fight For Its Long-Term Survival, Experts Say | NBC News
Public anger only seems to be building as the government intensifies its crackdown on peaceful protesters. The protesters are showing their readiness to face down bullets and teargas, heavily armed security personnel, and even die for this freedom movement. Some historians, and many activists, are saying that this is a potentially revolutionary moment. Iranians say that this round of protests is different from former rounds because political demands are unifying people across class and geography. The streets resemble a warzone, with protesters setting up pop-up clinics to treat the wounded, who are often unwilling to go to hospitals and clinics because of the risk of security personnel showing up there.  

Security personnel fired at students at the Medical Sciences University in Sanandaj.

Protesters blocked traffic on a main road, waving the hijab in the air.

Massive gatherings took place in Zahedan, where loud “Death to Khamenei” chants could be heard.

Extending into their 45th day, protests roiled college campuses such as this one in Tehran.

Iran’s Women Continue Protests, Creating Domestic Threat To Religious Rule | Newsweek
Though subject to mass arrest, violence, and brutal forms of treatment, including torture, while detained, the protesters are continuing to take to the streets in large numbers to demand the end of the tyrannical government and the installment of a democracy. The resistance movement seeks international recognition, said one Iranian activist; an acknowledgement by foreign governments and people that the Islamic Republic is not a legitimate government.

In Iran Protests, The Hijab Is The Red Line For Both Government And Women | Wall Street Journal
In 2018, a mere 35% of Iranians supported the mandatory hijab, compared to 85% in the early eighties, the Iranian parliament reported in 2018. For many Iranian women, hair is “spiritual,” “primordial,” an associate professor at New York University said. And to the regime, their covering is a facet of the Islamic revolution. Compromise is unacceptable, one professor suggested, because it would undermine male patriarchal dominance and signal weakness on behalf of the regime. Defying the hijab mandate represents to some activists and protesters an existential challenge to the regime. The persistence of female protesters playing a leading role in the movement by defiantly removing their hijabs, despite a brutal government crackdown, shows just how central hair is to their identity, and just how central their repression is to the identity of the Islamic Republic.  

University of Tehran students faced off against the Basij militia.

The Basij and plainclothes personnel fired teargas at Azad University students in Tehran.

Protesters swamped the campus of Tehran Polytechnic.

Iran’s Guard Warns Protesters As More Unrest Roils The Country | Associated Press
Regime officials blamed protesters for a deadly shooting claimed by ISIS at a major Shiite Mosque in Iran last week. The IRGC’s chief signaled a more severe crackdown may be coming. The government provided no evidence for their claims against protesters, but may be using it as a pretense to activate the Revolutionary Guards, who until now have not been deployed in large numbers. The Revolutionary Guards are loyal, ideologically-committed foot soldiers of the supreme leader, who have employed unyielding brutality and violence against protesters in the past to stabilize the regime in times of unrest.

Students Defy Iran Protest Ultimatum, Unrest Enters More Dangerous Phase | Reuters 
Riot police and pro-regime militias reportedly upped their violence against protesters today, after the Revolutionary Guard issued its ultimatum yesterday, saying that the protests were about to come to an end. Confrontations between students and security personnel heated up at universities across the country. The activist news outlet HRANA reported 283 people killed as of Saturday, including 44 minors. 

Iran And US Set For UN Confrontation Over Mahsa Amini Protests | Al Jazeera
Reuters reported that the U.S. is organizing a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the unrest in Iran. This upcoming Wednesday, the U.S. and Albania will reportedly be holding a discussion at which Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and Iranian-born actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi will speak, along with UN investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman. The meeting is supposed to highlight the repression of women, girls and religious and ethnic groups in Iran. An Iranian government website claimed that the meeting was organized in response to an intelligence report in Tehran, allegedly uncovering U.S. involvement in the unrest. Anti-regime activists have pointed out that anti-Americanism and anti-Israel sentiment plays a key role in stirring up pro-regime fervor.