Due to the power of social media, a spotlight has been shone on the protests that have ensued after the death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, a woman killed in the Iranian capital on September 16th.

She was travelling with her family from Kurdistan to Tehran, where she was arrested by morality police who alleged she was not wearing the hijab (an Islamic headscarf worn by women) correctly. After her parents were told that she was being taken to a re-education session, witnesses say she was beaten in the officers' van. She was taken to the hospital, potentially already in a coma, where she died a few days later.

Now the Iranian government has been blocking internet connection in certain areas of Kurdistan and Tehran, to prevent evidence of the state's atrocities from spreading and to stop protests from being arranged. At least 50 people have been killed in recent protests, which have taken place across 80 cities. 

At first glance, this is a women’s liberation issue; women should undoubtedly have the right to choose what they do with their bodies, whether this involves covering or uncovering. However, it may be more deeply rooted in the Iranian regime as a whole.

The Islamic revolution began in 1978 when Reza Shah’s pro-western monarchy was toppled. Before the Islamic republic, the Shah pushed for reforms that would allow Iran to become culturally and politically centralised. 

Women were encouraged to pursue an education and given various rights, but many women had their hijabs snatched off by police and had to ignore their culture. Many of the working class and leftists were discontent with the Shah’s political censorship and industrialisation of the country, and religious people were being forced to abandon their values.

The other end of this extreme has taken over. Now, Iran is still authoritarian, but women have to veil; unmarried men and women are forbidden to mix; and LGBT, ethnic and religious minorities are targeted by police and subject to huge discrimination and violence. 

People have also speculated that Masha’s death had something to do with her ethnic background, as a Kurd. Since 1918 Iran has been staunchly opposed to Kurdish separatism, quashing any uprisings that had come their way. Although the Kurdish population in Iran were not treated as badly, her ethnicity could nevertheless be a factor in the morality police’s judgement of her. 

It seems like western governments are not getting involved with this conflict. The UN has made tweets condemning the lack of freedom in Iran, but is this enough to save them?