Iran is seething with frustration over the death of Mahsa Amini, who was just 22 years old and died in the custody of Iran’s “Guidance Patrol”- the country’s morality police. The authorities are continuously trying to crush the protests at any cost, and human rights groups are reporting that more than 75 people have already been killed during the protests. Meanwhile, Slovenian foreign policy, led by Minister Tanja Fajon, remains silent, despite the fact that these protests are against the discriminatory and subordinate position of women in Iran.
Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, tragically passed away after being severely beaten by the country’s moral police. The injuries she sustained were so severe that she first fell into a coma, and then, unfortunately, there was no way to help her anymore. The 22-year-old was abducted in Tehran by members of Iran’s moral police because, according to their judgement, she failed to comply with the country’s strict laws on the wearing of hijabs. The police denied responsibility, defending themselves by claiming that the young woman’s heart had failed.
The latest death toll is estimated by the authorities to have reached 41, and this number includes several members of the security forces. On Monday, it was reported that more than 1,200 people had already been arrested. Tensions with the West have emerged after Germany summoned the Iranian Ambassador for talks and Canada announced sanctions against the country. The European Union also did not hold back in its criticism. “The widespread and disproportionate use of force against non-violent protesters is unjustified and unacceptable to the European Union and its Member States. The people and women of Iran – just like everywhere else – have the right to protest peacefully. This right must be guaranteed under all circumstances,” Brussels said, underlining the expectation to ensure access to the internet and free flow of information, to clarify the number of deaths and arrests, to release all non-violent male and female protesters, and to ensure that all detainees are treated in accordance with due process. “The killing of Mahsa Amini must also be properly investigated, and all those proven to be responsible for her death must be held accountable for their actions,” they made clear.
Meanwhile, our Minister of Foreign Affairs has not expressed any concern about the protests, even though Fajon, as a leftist, is considered (at least declaratively) a champion of women’s rights, and Iran is by no means exemplary in this area. Many were also surprised when Fajon boasted two years ago that she had met the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazem Shafei, in what was then her office as Member of the European Parliament.
The protests against the discriminatory and subordinate position of women in Iran are now on their eleventh consecutive day. A crowd in Tehran chanted “death to the dictator,” calling for an end to more than three decades of rule by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The police fired ammunition at the protesters
A human rights group says that by now, at least 76 people have been killed during protests in Iran, which means that the number has risen from the past week’s 57. Crowds chanted “Woman, life, freedom!” at the protests, as female protesters defiantly threw their hijabs at bonfires and burning garbage bins – this is a rallying cry that has echoed at solidarity protests around the world, including in London and Paris over the weekend.
“We are calling on the international community to take firm and united practical action to stop the killing and torture of protesters,” said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director of the non-governmental organisation Iran Human Rights (IHR). Video footage and death certificates obtained by IHR showed that ammunition was directly targeted at protesters, he claimed. Iranian riot police in black body armour beat protesters with sticks in street battles.
AFP also recently reported that some students have torn up large pictures of the Iranian Supreme Leader and his predecessor, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in anger at the situation in their country.
These are undoubtedly the biggest protests in the last three years. The security forces are also using real ammunition to calm the passions. Meanwhile, protesters are attacking police officers with stones, setting fire to their vehicles and to government office buildings. According to official figures, 1,200 people have been arrested since the protests began. In Mazandaran province alone, in the north of Iran, some 450 people have been arrested so far. On Saturday, authorities in neighbouring Guilan province reported that more than 700 people, including women, had been arrested during the protests.
According to the Committee Protect Journalists (CPJ), 20 journalists are among those arrested. “Rioters attacked government buildings and damaged public property,” Mazandaran’s chief prosecutor Mohammad Karimi told the local news agency IRNA, accusing the protesters of being led by “foreign counter-revolutionary agents.”
Tehran’s police are on the job “24 hours a day,” and many officers have hardly slept a wink, Iran’s Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said, thanking the exhausted officers and the capital’s police chief during a visit to their headquarters on Sunday, as seen in a video published by Mizan Online. Ejei stressed the “need for decisive action without leniency” against the protesters. But the powerful Shiite cleric, who has long been linked to the country’s ultra-conservative establishment, urged the authorities to take a softer line. “Leaders must listen to the demands of the people, solve their problems and show sensitivity to their rights,” Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani said on Sunday.
Authorities have restricted access to the internet and apps
Despite widespread internet restrictions, including blocks on Instagram and WhatsApp, new videos that circulated on social media showed what the protests looked like on Sunday night in Tehran and other cities, including Yazd, Isfahan and Bushehr on the Persian Gulf.
The Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw said the protests also took place in Amini’s hometown of Saqqez, “despite a strong military presence,” and they also reported on a 10-year-old girl that was shot and hospitalised in the northern town of Bukan.
Students at Tehran’s Al-Zahra University and the Sharif Institute have also reportedly joined the protests and also called on their professors to join.
On Sunday, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, slammed Iran for its widespread and disproportionate use of force against non-violent protesters. He said that the European Union would consider all options available to it to address the murder of Mahsa Amini and the country’s response to the protests – a country that is already under sanctions over its nuclear programme. The United States imposed sanctions against the morality police last week, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday, according to The Times of Israel, that his country would follow suit with a package of sanctions that will affect “dozens of individuals and entities.”
And since we have not heard any criticism of the country’s recent actions from the President of the Social Democrats party (SD), who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs – Tanja Fajon, despite the ongoing fights in Iran against the discriminatory and subordinate position of women in Iran, we decided to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs why it is that they are staying quiet on the matter. We also asked what the Foreign Minister’s position is when it comes to what is happening in Iran. We will publish the reply when we receive it.
Sara Kovač
