Iran is going through an unprecedented wave of protests: global support from leaders, celebrities and social media users; university professors going on strike in solidarity; nationwide strikes; the hashtag Mahsa Amini has been used over 100 million times; demonstrators are challenging security forces with casualties reported on both sides; at least one city declared as liberated from the Islamist regime; the Revolutionary Guards launching an artillery attack on militants in Iraqi Kurdistan; and who knows what else will happen.
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But each protest wave seems unprecedented until the next one arrives. And most commentators predict that the demonstrators will subside or will be suppressed, but not decisively. Is it possible we are talking about a historic event that will change the Islamic Republic forever?
Firstly, Mahsa Amini, whose death ignited the protests, was innocent. The beautiful 22-year-old did not demonstrate, did not protest, did not defy, she did not even remove her hijab completely. And still, she was arrested by Iran's so-called "morality police" who beat her (which CCTV footage circulating on social media proves) and was only given medical attention hours later after losing consciousness. She eventually died after being in a coma for three days.
It was an awakening for the Iranian people who realized that even if they played by the rules – kept a low profile and did not demonstrate – their personal safety would still not be guaranteed. As such, they had nothing to lose by going out to protest.
Secondly, most demonstrations in Iran's history have so far focused on issues that did not defy the very essence of the Islamic Republic. When the presidential elections were allegedly rigged in 2009, the protesters were basically saying that they wanted Musawi but got Ahmadinejad.
In 2007, and later in 2019, when Iranians demonstrated against fuel prices, it was an economic matter. Most of the demonstration waves were local, and resolvable if the leaders of the Islamic Republic chose so.
In 2011, there was another attempt to get rid of the system inspired by the Arab Spring. Demonstrators called for an end to Iran's religious government, but they were outnumbered by the security forces.
Make no mistake! The current protests are not about the hijab. It was never about that. The current protests started because of an event related to the head covering, many of which have since been removed and burned in protest, but the hijab has always been a symbol.
Contrary to the fuel protests, the teachers' protests, the workers' protests, and demonstrations by truck drivers, farmers, pensioners, residents of Shemiran, the Arabs of Khuzestan, and others, Iran cannot resolve this problem just by wishing to do so.
Even if the protests are suppressed this time, the leaders of the regime will no longer be able to claim that legitimate issues were "hijacked" and turned political by foreign entities. The protesters aren't just demanding freedom to dress as they wish. They are demanding complete liberation from the oppressive yoke of the Islamic Republic.
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