Of Dissent And Solidarity: Revisiting Top 5 Moments Of Iran's Uprising

Iran is currently reeling under the aftermath of nationwide protests that occurred following the death of Mahsa Amini on 16 September. The state now bears the hallmarks of a battle zone, marred by bloodshed, internet clampdown and gunfire ringing in and out on the streets.

Despite the government’s repeated claims of having restored calm, the scenes are now being replicated throughout the world to varying degrees. People now want to make a difference, it can either be on the global stage of the FIFA World Cup or from the walls of their homes. They want to participate, express solidarity and do more.

While it is impossible to independently verify a death toll from such clashes, gruesome images circulating online, and eyewitness testimony collected point to the bloodshed.

Today, to mark the ongoing observance of 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, we take a look at the key moments from Iran where women are fighting against years of tyrannical rule.

5 top moments of Iran uprising

FIFA World Cup: Iran fans wearing ‘Women. Life. Freedom’ T-shirts

The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been doused in controversies with LGTBQ flags and ‘One Love’ armbands being banned. And now a video on Twitter shows a man, wearing a T-shirt in support of women protesters in Iran, being denied entry inside a stadium.

Many Iranian fans were seen wearing T-shirts and carrying flags with messages of support for the women protesters during their opening match against England. “Women. Life. Freedom,” was the slogan printed on a lot of T-shirts and flags and photos of them went viral on social media. However, a lot of them were denied entry inside the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium where Iran played Wales on November 25.

During their opening match against England, Iran's football team used the world cup stage to launch a powerful protest. The players stayed silent during the national anthem, refusing to sing. Their decision was met with raucous cheers from the Iran fans, who tried to drown out the anthem with boos for the music and cheers of support for the players.

"Everybody knows the circumstances, the environment of my players is not ideal in terms of commitment and concentration, and they are affected by the issue," an emotional Carlos Queiroz, head coach of the Iranian team, told afterwards. "They are human beings, they are kids."

However, the team's vigour crashed after the team faced harsh criticism from their government for their actions. The men's team half-heartedly sang their national anthem at the start of their game against Wales with their lips barely moving, eyes closed.

Suggested Reading: Protests In Iran Over Hijab Rule: How Men Are Supporting Women

Grief and Power: When women cut hair to represent dissent

For many women, hair is a sign of beauty that is decreed to be covered by a hijab in the Islamic Republic. According to a EuroNews report, cutting of hair is a symbol of protest and mourning, one that goes back to Ferdowsi’s Persian epic Shahnameh, one of the world’s longest epic poems written between c. 977 and 1010 CE. Hair is seen as a recurring motif in the epic and is often torn or cut to signify mourning or loss.

To express their anger over Amini’s death and the country’s strict “hijab rules," female Iranian protestors cut off their hair and burnt their hijabs. In a viral video, a weeping Iranian woman is seen kneeling by her dead brother’s coffin as she slashes through her hair with a pair of scissors. Her relatives wail for justice as she tosses strands onto the coffin. They were grieving for 36-year-old Javad Heydari, who was fatally shot at one of the anti-government protests.

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib and Darya Safai cut their hair in parliament

When show business stepped up in solidarity

On Monday, a group of Iranian filmmakers and actors showed solidarity with the protestors in the form of an evocative but silent video. The video begins with actor and writer Soheila Golestani standing in front of the camera frame, joining the director Hamid Pourazaei. They are soon joined by other actors and filmmakers. None of the women in the frame has worn the headscarf. Everyone is wearing black and looking defiantly at the camera. The mere act of being without a headscarf in public or public-facing forums like social media is an important statement in Iran.

Woman. Life. Freedom

Across Iran, videos show that women are most often at the forefront of the recent demonstrations, rallying crowds of both women and men by engaging in symbolic acts of defiance. One of these acts, women burning their hijabs, has become a dominant theme of the protests, representing both solidarity with Amini and pushback against the mandatory wearing of hijabs.

Another phrase now heard in videos from nearly every major protest across the country is “Women. Life. Freedom." The videos show protestors in a direct physical confrontation with security forces and sometimes also physically pushing back against the police when challenged.

“The big willingness to put your body on the line and to say, ‘I’m coming at you and I’m going to fight you with my own body’ — that I haven’t seen,” said Narges Bajoghli, an assistant professor of Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University to New York Times. “And that, I think, is what is causing this to be so difficult for the state to deal with.”

Iranian Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's niece calls out regime

Khamenei's niece Farideh Moradkhani, an engineer and activist, has called on foreign governments to cut all ties with Tehran over its violent crackdown. A video of a statement by Moradkhani whose late father was a prominent opposition figure married to Khamenei's sister was widely shared online after her arrest on November 23.

"O free people, be with us and tell your governments to stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime," Moradkhani said in the video. "This regime is not loyal to any of its religious principles and does not know any rules except force and maintaining power."

She called on the world to end the reign of her uncle, describing him as similar to dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

"Now is the time for all free and democratic countries to recall their representatives from Iran as a symbolic gesture and to expel the representatives of this brutal regime from their countries," she said.

Suggested Reading: Iranian Women Teach Us To Reclaim Autonomy Over Our Bodies