Unrest in Iran began on Dec. 28 as protests against bad economic conditions but they have quickly turned into something much bigger. Iranian citizens now demonstrate against the Islamist controlled government as a whole.

Numerous Iranians say their savings have been wiped out by the collapse of fraudulent businesses and unlicensed credit institutions in recent years. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds more have been arrested over the past 10 days, according to human rights groups. Some reports that the number of arrested people is over 1,000. These are the largest wave of demonstrations since nationwide pro-reform unrest in 2009.

According to the Guardian, two members of the Iranian parliament close to the reformist camp confirmed on Monday that one detainee, Sina Ghanbari, had died in Evin prison and at least two other protesters had died in the jail. They have not yet been identified. Concern about the fate of thousands of detainees had been heightened by Ghanbari’s death, Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the Centre for Human Rights in Iran, said. “The authorities claim he [killed himself] but there is no credibility to their claims without an independent and fair investigation,” he added. Additionally, an 11-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were killed in the town of Khomeinishahr, and a Revolutionary Guard member was killed in Najafabad. All three were killed with hunting rifles.

As Atheist Republic has already reported, a woman was branded a hero for removing hijab in a silent protest against repressive regime. A clip, posted to Twitter by Armin Navabi, ex-Muslim atheist and secular activist, shows a woman who took off her hijab during anti-government protests in Iran.

This woman in #Iran took off her #Hijab to protest the mandatory Islamic dress code imposed on Iranian women. #IStandWithHer #IranProtests #Islam pic.twitter.com/G6oKHIPA68

— Armin Navabi (@ArminNavabi) December 29, 2017

"This woman in Iran took off her Hijab to protest the mandatory Islamic dress code imposed on Iranian women," he tweeted, using the hashtag "#IStandWithHer". The tweet has been retweeted over 15,000 times and liked more than 32,000 times.

The vice-president of Tehran University, which has seen clashes in recent days, said a committee had been formed to track the fate of students who had been arrested. "Our efforts at the university are aimed at cooperating with the relevant authorities to create the conditions for the return of the detained students to the university and their families in the shortest possible time," Majid Sarsangi told the Iranian Students' News Agency.

While hijab was something woman could chose to wear or not, Iranian women weren’t aware that it was symbol of freedom. Following the 1979 Revolution, several laws were established such as the introduction of mandatory veiling and public dress code of females. Thousands of women were heavily mobilized in the revolution itself, and different groups of women actively participated alongside their male counterparts. Ayatollah Khomeini invoked the image of the hijab as a symbol of the revolution, saying that, “a nation whose respected women demonstrate in modest garb [hijab] to express their disgust with the shah’s regime- such a nation will be victorious.” Almost 40 years later, women are fighting for their rights again.

Armin Navabi posted a video on Twitter showing female protester saying to older Iranians: "You raised your fists and ruined our lives [referring to the 1979 Islamic revolution]. Now we raise our fists [to fix your mistake]. Be men, join us. I as a woman will stand in front and protect you. Come represent your country." Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian-American policy analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, tweeted that “the video reflects a common sentiment one hears among younger Iranians toward their parent’s generation, who brought down an authoritarian monarchy only to usher in an even more authoritarian (politically, economically, and socially) theocracy.”

Iranian revolution in 1979 came as the movement against the Shah’s dictatorship. An exiled opposition leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for strikes, boycotts, tax refusal and other forms of noncooperation with the then regime.

Iran voted by national referendum to become an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979, and to approve a new theocratic-republican constitution whereby Khomeini became Supreme Leader of the country in December 1979.

The Iran hostage crisis, when fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days, signaled the start of major hostilities between the US and Iran, resulting in decades of sanctions. Over the years, sanctions have taken a serious toll on Iran’s economy and people. Iranians are angry, experts say, because they expected life to get better when severe sanctions were lifted after the deal in 2015 between the P5+1 and Iran over its nuclear program.

As Reuters reports, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most powerful political authority

in the country, accused Iran’s foes of fomenting the unrest. “In recent days, enemies of Iran used different tools including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic Republic,” he said, in his first reaction to the unrest. He did  not name the enemies but Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia were behind the riots.

The Trump administration has gone all in with its very vocal support of the demonstrators and harsh condemnation of the Iranian government. “We want to help amplify the voices of the Iranian people,” said United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who appeared before cameras to recite the chants of protesters across Iran. She said Iran’s claim that other countries were fomenting the unrest was “complete nonsense,” describing the dissent as homegrown.

Karim Sadjadpour  tweeted about American interference in protests and named things that US should and should not do. Two of those things US should not do, according to Mr Sadjadpour are: “1) Encourage/incite protesters. George H W Bush encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam in 1991, when they did so Saddam crushed them and Bush was blamed. 2) Unscripted presidential tweets that divert attention from Iran’s repression.”

20. Things US should not do: 1) Encourage/incite protestors. George HW Bush encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam in 1991, when they did so Saddam crushed them and Bush was blamed. 2) Unscripted presidential tweets that divert attention from Iran’s repression

— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) January 2, 2018

The foreign ministry of France said in a statement: "France expresses its concern at the large number of victims and arrests." A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, cited by Reuters, appeared to agree with Khamenei's claims that foreign powers were involved in the unrest, and called the interference "unacceptable." Russia and Iran are allies in several respects, including their joint support for Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

As the protests wind down, it’s difficult to say what the long-term effects will be. Some are suggesting that the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is losing control of the government, while others play down the issue, saying that the protests will make little difference at all. Only time will tell.

Photo Credits: Associated Press