Cries of revolution, violence, anger and hope. Also tens, possibly hundreds, of protesters who died at the hands of the security apparatus.
Demonstrations against the Iranian regime have continued for more than a month, demanding a change of power and basic rights for women.
When international journalists are not allowed to enter the country or they are not allowed to film the protests, information about the protests leaks abroad from videos shot by ordinary people and messages abroad. The Iranian state has significantly restricted the Internet, which makes it difficult for Iranians to communicate abroad.
went through the videos published on social media about the protests in Iran and tried to verify their authenticity.
It is difficult to confirm the exact shooting moment, place and background of the events of most of the videos distributed on social media. Still, the set of accounts that spread information about the protests is large and uniform enough that it can be deduced from them what the protests are like.
The exceptionally large protests started in September, when a 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died under unclear circumstances. The chastity police had arrested her for dressing inappropriately.
Since then, people pushing for women’s rights and generally dissatisfied with the administration have taken to the streets in different parts of the country. At the same time, an extraordinary wave of disobedience has been seen, when women have defied the strict dress code by moving in public without the hijab scarf that covers their hair and a loose robe.
Protests occur all over the country constantly, from small demonstrations of tens of people to large riots. In the videos, the streets are on fire, stones are flying and shouts against the regime are echoing.
The women’s haircut protest has grown into a persistent and vocal opposition to the regime. There are people of different ages, men and women – some of the women have scarves, some don’t.
Opposite are the security forces, who are dressed in riot gear. The treatment of protesters is harsh. Policemen slap people in public and drag them into cars. It is impossible to know what will happen after that. Some accounts publish pictures of funerals and young people who are said to have been killed in protests.
has tried to verify the authenticity of the videos. The shooting location of the videos has been determined by comparing the buildings and details of the urban environment visible in the videos with information obtained from satellite images and other available footage. The filming times and the course of events have been verified from other videos and social media posts depicting the same events. If necessary, we have also relied on publicly available information and media sources about the events.
The human rights organization Amnesty has been able to confirm that 144 people died in connection with the protests, but the number is likely to be significantly higher. Of the dead confirmed by Amnesty, 23 are children.
According to Amnesty, policemen and other authorities belonging to the security forces have shot demonstrators and bystanders with heavy bullets at close range. People have been shot in the head, heart and neck, for example, meaning that the bullets were intended to kill or seriously injure. Demonstrators have also died as a result of beatings by security forces.
According to a recent assessment by the Iran Human Rights organization, thousands have been arrested because of demonstrations and are at risk of being tortured.
Large demonstrations have been called for Saturdays in different parts of the country. Another big day of protests could be next Wednesday, the 40th anniversary of Mashan Amin’s death. For Shia Muslims, the 40th day after death is a significant day.
Protest in the heart of Helsinki
“Woman, Life, Freedom!”
Shabnam Nikbakhsh, Fereshteh Sohrabi mixed Masha have come to the steps of the Parliament building to show their support for the Iranian protests. Masha does not want her last name to be made public, but ‘s editor knows it.
The trio has a similar background: they were born and raised in Iran, but came to Finland several years ago for postgraduate studies.
The women keep in close contact with Iran and follow the country’s events through it – although the internet shutdown and the restriction of phone connections make it difficult to keep in touch.
They feel that they lived a Double Life in Iran. Every one of them is familiar with the chastity police interfering with dressing.
– Censorship has been a part of our lives since birth. The most difficult thing is that you are not allowed to live, dress or speak freely. It’s part of the culture, which is really sad, says Masha.
The restriction of the Internet complicates the embassy’s work
Ambassador of Finland in Tehran Kari Kahiluoto estimates that the protests in Iran have subsided somewhat this week.
According to Kahiluoto, monitoring the situation is made difficult by the fact that the internet is partially down. About three weeks ago, the Iranian government announced that it would restrict the internet in order to curb the protest movement. In Iran, the popular social media services Instagram and Whatsapp are currently not working.
Vicarious victims are local companies, international organizations and, for example, educational institutions. According to estimates, the country’s economy loses millions of euros per hour due to internet restrictions.
Internet outages also significantly affect the operations of the Finnish embassy. Mobile networks work very limited, processing of visas has been delayed.
The embassy in Tehran also handles the affairs of Afghan refugees, such as family reunification.
In the background, the people’s deep dissatisfaction
According to Kahiluoto, several social crises are going on in Iran at the same time: mistrust of the administration, economic crisis and high inflation. In addition, Iran is currently preparing for a change of power.
– The economic situation is really bad and people feel it in their everyday life: prices are rising, the employment situation is bad. It was widely expected that relations with Western countries would improve with the nuclear agreement and that the economy would recover as a result, but that has not happened, says Kahiluoto.
According to Kahiluoto, it is still impossible to say what the protests will lead to: reforms or heavy use of force against the protesters.
The people’s widespread dissatisfaction is illustrated by the fact that the demonstrations have no clear leadership.
– It is a bottom-up, widespread social force, says Kahiluoto.
You can discuss the topic until Sunday 23 October. until 11 p.m.