Iranian Expat Communities Protest From Melbourne to Vancouver

In what appears to be the most widespread protests since 2019, thousands protested in the capital Tehran, northern city of Rasht, and the very religious city of Mashhad, Iran's second most populous city known as a bastion of Shiite hardliners.

In the protests fueled by the death in custody of the 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amiri, protesters have been emphasizing their personal freedoms including the right to decide what to wear. Unlike most protests in the past few years that were triggered by economic hardship, this round of demonstrations is propelled more by a yearning for social freedoms. Clearly, most protesters are rejecting the very essence of clerical rule and its top symbol, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Women have taken a markedly active role to show their opposition to the country’s laws which make flouting the hijab, or even not wearing it in a way acceptable to the hardliner authorities, punishable with prison and cash fines. The law is enforced by tens of thousands of the so-called ‘Guidance Patrols’, which are religious police acting with impunity.

Calls were made on social media Monday evening to continue the protests Tuesday evening across the country. Reports from Tehran Tuesday indicate that students in some universities such as Shahid Beheshti University, have already begun protesting on campuses. Tehran University, the largest in the country, which was the scene of a large protest rally Monday has taken a preemptive measure and informed students by text message that it has made all its classes online in the next three weeks for all apart from residents of the capital.

In Tehran the protests outside university campuses on Monday started from a street named Hijab. Activists had announced the gathering a day earlier and the protest spread to a boulevard nearby. Some women’s rights activists who had organized the call to protest on Hijab Street, including documentary filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi, were reportedly violently arrested by the security forces there but freed after a few hours.

In a move never observed at such a large scale before, hundreds or even thousands of protesting women removed their headscarves and waved them above their heads. Women removed their veils even in some small, traditional towns such as Saqqez, the young girl’s hometown. Some others, such as a protester in Tehran, burned their hijab on the street.

Protesters also chanted slogans against the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who claims the anti-hijab movement is nothing but a Western plot to harm the regime, called him a dictator and said they did not want the Islamic Republic.

Khamenei and other officials often claim that Iranian women wear the hijab by choice but there are strict regulations enforced in government offices that define the ‘acceptable hijab’, from the size of headscarves and the length of female employees’ gowns and trousers to the type of shoes they are allowed to wear which exclude heels of any type as well as sandals.

Not only women who do not believe in hijab, but also many who wear it by choice are against compulsory hijab. In July many such women joined a social media campaign against the much-dreaded hijab enforcement patrols. They posted their own pictures with the hashtag “I wear the hijab but am against morality police patrols”.

In the past few months, authorities have even been policing the compulsory Islamic dress code on the tombstones of Tehran’s massive Behesht-e Zahra cemetery and removed about 100 gravestones which had pictures of deceased women without veils.

Musk made the announcement in a tweet on Monday as Iran is engulfed in widespread protests over the death of a young woman in the custody of hijab enforcement patrols. 

Some people on Twitter had asked Musk to provide the satellite-based internet stations as he did for the people of Ukraine after the Russian invasion. However, most Ukrainians have not been able to access the internet via Starlink because it needs special equipment and is somehow too complicated to set up.

Since protests over the death of Mahsa Amini started in several cities across Iran, including in the capital Tehran, internet connection was significantly slowed down, a strategy the government usually uses during protests in Iran.

Authorities disrupt the Internet to prevent news of unrest reaching the rest of the country and abroad, and to prevent protesters from galvanizing support in nearby regions.

Operated by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX, Starlink provides internet access coverage to most of the Earth. 

In May, following the shutdown of internet connection after popular protests over bread prices in southwestern Iran, Victoria Coates, who served as senior advisor to the energy secretary in the Trump administration, called on Musk to activate Starlink satellite access for Iranians.

Iran’s former communication minister Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi had warned Iran’s parliament against plans to restrict Internet access, saying that “if you do not provide people with the right service, others will”.

Using commercially available data, the Commerce Department identified Boeing 747s operated by Mahan Air, Qeshm Fars Air and Iran Air transporting goods, including electronic items, to Russia in apparent violation of stringent US export controls on Russia related to its invasion of Ukraine. These are the first three Iranian airplanes identified, the department said.

The department has warned that any refueling, maintenance, repair, spare parts or services violate US export controls and subject companies to US enforcement actions.

Iran has publicly announced its intention to expand cooperation with Russia in the aviation sector by providing spare parts for its airplanes, the Commerce Department said.

The US and Ukraine have said that Iran has already provided military drones to Russia that are being used in the war.

With the additions, there were 183 aircraft on the list for apparent violations of US export controls. The three Iranian airlines identified Monday were already subject to a variety of restrictions by the US government.

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod said US "controls, especially on items such as electronics and aircraft parts, have degraded Russia’s defense industrial base, severely restricted their access to the world economy."

"When Russia seeks to engage pariah states like Iran in order to backfill for what the international community has cut off, we will take action to thwart such attempts and disrupt such connections," he added.

Reporting by Reuters

Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that Mahsa Amini “should be alive today,” referring to the 22-year-old who was arrested on September 13 by the religious police for her loose hijab and two hours later delivered to a hospital in coma.

“Instead, the United States and the Iranian people mourn her. We call on the Iranian government to end its systematic persecution of women and allow peaceful protest,” Blinken wrote.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also tweeted about Mahsa Amini’s death, saying “Her death is unforgiveable. We will continue to hold Iranian officials accountable for such human rights abuses,” adding the trending hashtag of #MahsaAmini.

But as protests unfolded in several Iranian cities and towns on Monday and the center of the capital Tehran was the scene of thousands of protesters confronted with ninja-like anti-riot police, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, sanctioned for his culpability in human rights violations, stepped down from his plane into US soil in New York.

Iranian activists and US lawmakers had urged the administration for weeks to deny a visa to Raisi and his large entourage, but the White House still entangled in nuclear talks with Tehran apparently had issued the permission long ago.

Hundreds of people left comments on these tweets, saying that mere expression of sorrow or support are not sufficient, and the United States should do more to show it supports Iranians. Many also commented that Riaisi should not have been given a visa to go the New York to attend the UN General Assembly.

An Iranian, Nasim Behrous replied to Sec. Blinken, “Iranians know very well that such tweets are just a political gesture with no practical effect and deep down you are also aware that the Iranians’ desire are not peaceful demonstrations & ease on women’s rights, but overthrowing the regime. You absolute double-dealer!”

Another Twitter user replied to Blinken saying that Mahsa Amini’s “blood is on your hands too,” for negotiating with the Islamic Republic with the possible end result of lifting sanctions, “sending them money so they could afford more suppression.”

A few Republican lawmakers opposed to a nuclear deal with Iran also criticized the administration.

“As Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrives in the United States on a visa granted to him by the Biden Administration, the American people stand with the brave Iranians who are coming together once again to protest the regime’s brutality,” Rep, Claudia Tenney tweeted. Sen Tom Cotton also tweeted against granting a visa to President Raisi.

The European Union’s External Action arm of the Diplomatic Service issued a statement condemning Mahsa Amini’s death. “What happened to her is unacceptable and the perpetrators of this killing must be held accountable,” the statement said on Monday.

France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday also condemned the arrest and violence that lead to Amini's death. In a statement, the ministry said that her death at the hands of Iran's morality police is "profoundly shocking" and called for a transparent investigatiion.

Raisi has dismissed any suggestion of meeting or speaking with Joe Biden in New York, as the US President also will be at the United Nations on Wednesday when both are scheduled to deliver speeches. Iran has refused to have any direct contact with American officials during 17 months nuclear talks held in Vienna and elsewhere. The EU acts as the mediator in the talks.

Throughout Monday fierce protests took place in Western Iranian cities and towns mainly in Kordestan (Kurdistan) Province, after a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini died Friday from severe brain injury at the hands of the Islamic religious police for her improper hijab.

Mahsa Amini was from the Kurdish majority town of Saqqez who visited Tehran last week where she was detained and assaulted by the hijab police. She was taken to hospital on September 13 in a coma and died on Friday.

Police forces fired at protesters in Divandarreh, Kordestan, where at least 10 people were injured, and there were clashes in Saqqez on Monday.

At the same time, people in Tehran and the central city of Esfahan (Isfahan) began protests with bouts of clashes with security forces.

There were also large gatherings on some university campuses in the capital, where Revolutionary Guard’s Basij members attacked congregating students. In one video, a group of students stand outside the office of their university’s cleric, most probably the representative of the Supreme Leader at the university, chanting “Mullahs Must Get Lost” as the cleric is watching them through his window.

There were also strikes in Kurdish populated areas and people send videos to Iran International showing security forces firing and residents opening their doors to shelter protesters.

Protests in Tehran came to an end in the night, but local reporters said that both size of the crowd and their determination to resist the security forces were unexpected. One reporter estimated that at least 10,000 people had gathered in Tehran's center.

Below, we offer our readers a glimpse of event that took place on Monday. We will resume live coverage of events on Tuesday. Our current coverage ended at 01:00 Theran time, September 20.

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Hengaw, a Kurdish human rights group, reported late on Monday local time that six protesters, including four teenagers, were injured by security forces in Mahabad, a Kurdish majority city of around 170,000 in West Azarbaijan Province.

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23:10 Local time - Iran International has learned that a protester shot by security forces in Saqqez, Kordestan Province today has died of his injuries. Saqqez is the hometown of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died on Friday of injuries she received in police custody.

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23:00 Local time - Iranian reporters in Tehran say that mobile internet is down in the capital amid anti-government protests. The government frequesntly interrupts internet connection during protests to prevent news and videos from reaching the outside world and also hindering communication among residents.

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The European Union’s External Action arm of the Diplomatic Service has issued a statement condemning the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last week. “What happened to her is unacceptable and the perpetrators of this killing must be held accountable,” the statement said on Monday.

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21:40 Local time - Protesters in Tehran have remained on Keshavarz Boulevard and are still chanting against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. They torched one of the motorbikes used by the anti-riot police in the area.

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21:30 Local time - Kurdpa, a Kurdish rights group, has identified two of the four protesters killed by security forces in Divandarreh in Kordestan Province as Fouad Ghadimi and Mohsen Mohammadi. Both men passed away in hospital in Sanandaj, capital of the province, this evening.

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21:10 Local time update - In the religious city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran protesters who took to the Mellat Park and streets of Vakilabad district earlier today are chanting “Down with the Dictator”, “Our IRIB (state broadcaster), Shame on you!”, “May your soul rest in peace Reza Shah” and “We don’t want to wear headscarves”. Mashhad is Iran's second-most populous city with a population of over 3 million and home to the shrine of the eight imam of Shiites. President Ebrahim Raisi who hails from Mashhad is son-in-law of Ahmad Alamolhoda, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Khorasan Razavi.

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Some social media reports say security forces fired at people in Rasht and a protester has been shot. Protests began in Rasht, capital of northern province of Gilan, earlier this afternoon and have continued into the evening.
Protesters in Rasht who took to the city’s main square have been chanting “Shame on you Khamenei, Leave the country alone”, “Death to Khamenei”, and “We don’t want Islamic rule” and telling the Basij militia to “get lost”.

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Earlier on Monday students of several major universities in the capial, including Tehran University, staged rallies and marches inside university campuses. “We are all Mahsas, “Fight us and we will fight back [till we win]”, students of Tehran University shouted. Students also chanted against the IRGC’s Basij militia and clashed with Basijis.

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18:15 Local time - Social media users have posted photos and videos of women in Tehran who removed their headscarves and waved them in the air and a motorcycle belonging to security forces burning on the corner of one of the streets.

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In Divandarreh, a small town of around 25,000 in Kordestan Province, security forces opened fire on protesters and used tear gas around mid-day. An informed source told Iran International that at least four people have been killed as security forces opened fire with live bullets at protesters in the city of Divandarreh in the western Kurdistan province.

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18:00 Local time - Protests in Tehran began from Hijab Street off Keshavarz Boulevard in central Tehran as announced by women’s rights activists Sunday evening. A video taken at Keshavarz Boulevard near Tehran University, shows police and special forces violently shoving protesters and hitting them with batons to disperse them.

“Down with the Dictator” and “We will kill the ones who killed our sister”,thousands of protesters chanted in Tehran.