Key Points
- This weekend marks one month since the death of Mahsa Amini, the woman whose death became a catalyst for protests.
- While analysts describe the movement as unprecedented, is it enough to dismantle a powerful regime?
This weekend marks one month since the death of , the woman whose death became a catalyst for protests that some say could lead to the overthrow of Iran's theocratic regime.
The 22-year-old Kurdish woman died in custody on 16 September after being arrested by the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab - or headscarf - improperly. Now, she has become the face of a movement that's spread around the world.
Since her death, the country has plunged into chaos as - and there's no sign of the unrest slowing down.
, university students have ditched class, and schoolgirls have chanted anti-government slogans.
The government has given police the go-ahead to crack down against protesters, blaming foreign "enemies" as the force behind the uprising.
According to rights groups, more than a hundred people have been killed - - in the police crackdown against protesters.
The international community has condemned Iranian authorities, and high-profile figures are cutting their hair in a symbolic show of support for women who are writing what some say could be a seismic chapter in Iran's history.
Analysts describe the movement as unprecedented for a number of reasons. But is it enough to dismantle a regime that's held onto power for more than four decades?
Past protests in Iran
Civil unrest in Iran isn't a new phenomenon, with people storming the streets every few years to demand social and economic reforms.
The last time Iran experienced mass protests was in 2019. Known as Bloody November (Aban), the unrest was spurred on by a petrol price hike that angered civilians in 100 cities. Amnesty International estimated that 304 people were killed in the span of one week.
There were others in 2017-18, triggered by economic turmoil, and in 1999 after the government forcibly shut down a student newspaper.
But one of the biggest protests in Iran's recent history was the Green Movement in 2009.
Protesters carry pictures of Neda Agha Soltan, who was shot dead during the Green Movement protests, while shouting slogans and chants outside the UN headquarters against then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York in September 2009. Source: AAP / AP / Bebeto Matthews
It's estimated that 2,500 people were arrested and around 106 died in the protests, according to Amnesty International. Opposition activists and critics were silenced in a massive crackdown against protesters that left the movement to eventually fizzle.
What makes the current protests different?
Alam Saleh, an Iranian studies lecturer at the Australian National University, said the current protests are different to those that came before.
This time, women are leading the charge - many of them young - without direction from a political leader.
The movement has also united Kurdish, Baloch and Iranian women together to fight for a common purpose. .
Thousands showed their support for Iranian protesters in The Hague, Netherlands in October 2022. Source: AAP / AP / Peter Dejong
"For the first time, women are recharged to seeking their own rights. They are no longer waiting for the religious establishment and patriarchal establishments in society to give them their rights. They are taking it and demanding in the streets by themselves," he said.
Iranian-Australian researcher and activist Azadeh Davachi attended the Green Movement protests in Tehran before moving to Australia.
She said she's not seen such an uprising for and by Iranian women at an international scale before.
"This time the population that I saw are people from different backgrounds ... they came to support Iranian people. That's something that hasn't happened before," she said.
While, Ms Davachi said it's "amazing" to see international solidarity, she's slept little and cried a lot for her friends who've been arrested since the protests erupted.
"All of us, Iranian people, we are crying, we are trying to do everything to stop [the police crackdown]," she said.
Receiving information from Iran on the ground has been difficult due to internet blackouts imposed by the government since Ms Amini's death.
Dr Saleh said cutting off the internet is used as a kind of "punitive weapon" against Iranians who rely on it to communicate with loved ones and to prevent information from spreading about upcoming protests.
While internet blackouts helped quash the 2019 protests, he said the current unrest lasting 30 days and counting is an indication that people will not be stopped by internet restrictions.
Revolution or movement?
Ms Davachi said the government "can literally not manage" the scores of protests that have swept across dozens of cities across the country.
There's been a noted change of tune by one of Iran's top officials, chief justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, who initially ordered the judiciary to press hard against the "rioters". He has since told protesters the government is willing to discuss their grievances.
Protests in solidarity with women have spread around the world, as diaspora demand freedom of choice for Iranian women. Source: AAP / AP / Andre Penner
"It's more about an uprising. It's a great movement, but is not a revolution yet," he said.
Despite no sign of a regime change yet, Ms Davachi believes the international awareness achieved by Iranian women is "truly enough" to be described as a revolution in its own right.
"The voices now are heard all around the world, even in Australia. The people heard us ... The Iranian regime hasn't had such a thing in four decades," she said.
"How could we not put it as a revolution?"
