The spark
September was the kicking off of the protests. As protests grew and spread, the government cracked down as they usually do. People noted not only the geographical spread of the protests, but also the different ethnic groups and classes of society. It was noted that this felt different.
The crackdown was brutal and many protesters were killed: Nika Shakmarian (16), Sarina Esmaeilzadeh (16) , Hadis Najafi (22) to name a few.
On September 30, over 100 people were killed in Zahedan in what is now termed ‘Bloody Friday’.
Revolution
Protests continued and spread to industries like the oil and gas sector. The government crackdown in Kurdistan escalated with Saaqez coming under increasing military control by government forces.
‘Influencers’ or those with a public profile also come out in support of the protests, to the detriment of their careers. Elnaz Rekabi, Voira Ghafouri, Amir Nasr-Azadani (sentenced to death) and Taraneh Alidoosti to name some.
Toomaj Salehi, a rapper with strong political content in his music and the voice of many people’s grievances is abducted, tortured and put in solitary confinement.
International focus continued during the Fifa World Cup where the team refused to sing the national anthem in the first game. Many activists are prevented from protesting in Qatar and back home large celebrations are seen when the team loses its matched against England and the US.
The revolution is recognized by some international leaders, though many seem resolved to downplay them.
The international community’s reaction is mixed – making ‘supportive’ comments and taking symbolic action (like the independent investigation at the UN Rights Council and removing Iran from the UN Commission on the status of Women), but playing a ‘wait and see’ game while protests continue and people are killed.
All of this in the face of the use of executions and as means of silencing dissent. To date Mohsen Shakari (22), Majid Reza Rahnavard (23), Mehdi Karami (21) and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini (39) were all executed in quick succession. All young, athletic and tortured to give false confessions.
Winter lull
As expected, winter was a quieter time on the protests front. They didn’t stop altogether, but they did reduce in scale and frequency.
Women, Life, Freedom 