Why are people protesting in Iran by cutting their hair and burning hijabs? Who are the morality police? And are we witnessing the beginning of another major Iranian revolution?
These are some of the big questions being asked right now. Mass protests have spread across the country and authorities have responded with violent and deadly force. The event that sparked all of this was the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died while being held by Iran's morality police.
On September 13th Amini was arrested for wearing a hijab too loosely. That's considered a crime in Iran as women are required to cover their hair and dress modestly in public. Authorities say Amini died of natural causes and that she had prior health conditions and suffered heart failure but her family says she had no health issues, and that the government is simply trying to cover up what actually happened.
Amini was arrested by Iran's Guidance Patrol commonly referred to as the 'morality police'. Its primary role is to enforce religious laws in Iran like strict rules on dress, behaviour and mixing between men & women in public. Punishments can take a number of different forms from a simple warning to physical beatings and the morality police are given a lot of power and freedom to operate.
Unlike Australia. Iran doesn't have a separation between religion and government. In fact, Iran is referred to by many as a theocracy. That's a form of government where a religious leader rules in the name of a higher power. In Iran that figure is the Supreme Leader who is appointed by a small group of religious officials.
Iran does have elements of democracy. it has a President, parliament, and elections but The Supreme leader who is not elected by the public is the most powerful figure.
Since 1989 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has held the position. The Supreme Leader controls the armed forces and appoints judges. and has the final say on all important policies. The Supreme Leader also appoints half the members of the Guardian Council, a twelve-man body that controls Iranian politics and has the power to block laws as well as candidates for parliament and President.

What started as a response to the death of Mahsa Amini has transformed into a bigger movement calling for an end to the laws and systems that oppress women in Iranian society, the marginalisation of ethnic minorities as well as the overwhelming control of the country by an unelected minority. The people of Iran can't achieve real change through elections if the Supreme Leader & the Guardian Council hold ultimate political power. Even when politicians do emerge that want to change the system, they're often blocked from running in the first place. In the controversial 2021 presidential election the Guardian Council disqualified all of the main reformist and moderate candidates and less than half of the population even bothered to vote.
Real change would require upending Iran's entire power structure, something that famously happened during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. This uprising transformed Iran from a secular westernising monarchy which operated as a dictatorship with little political freedom but more social freedoms into the Islamic Republic that we know it to be today.
There are a lot of comparisons being drawn between the current protests and what happened in 1979 but is another full-scale revolution actually coming?
There's a large groundswell of support that has spread right across the country even in smaller, more traditionally religious towns. And there are signs that Iran's large youth population has had enough and is unsatisfied. But according to experts there are some key differences between now and 1979. Firstly, the current protest movement doesn't have a unified leader or opposition group driving it. For years any opposition groups In Iran that have begun to emerge have been quickly and aggressively crushed.
Another big difference is Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. After the 1979 revolution the IRGC was set up to protect Iran's Islamic system. Even though the Guard corps is smaller than Iran's regular military it's considered to be the most powerful force in the country.
It also benefits a lot from the current regime and its members risk losing their status and benefits in society if things were to change.
So, what happens next?
Protesters & human rights groups have called on the international community to hold the Iranian government accountable for its actions Inside Iran the government has continued to crack down. There have been mass arrests, internet blackouts and protesters are being killed every day by Iranian security forces. But despite all of this the protests have continued.
Even if the government does manage to stop the protesters this time. There is a belief among some experts that because of the size and momentum of this movement the bell has been rung and it may be forced to make some fundamental changes sooner or later. - Nicholas Maher, ABC

свернуть