The Farda Briefing

Welcome back to The Farda Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that tracks the key issues in Iran and explains why they matter.

I'm RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here's what I’ve been following during the past week and what I’m watching for in the days ahead.

The Big Issue

“Woman, life, freedom.” “Death to the dictator.” These are some of the chants of Iranian protesters, men and women, who have taken to the streets of dozens of cities across Iran in the past 12 days despite a crackdown by security forces, stern warnings by officials, and severe Internet cuts.

The protests were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by Tehran’s morality police, which has galvanized Iranians in an unprecedented way while also highlighting four decades of state violence and discrimination against women who have been pushing back against state repression for years.

The government has recently arrested more than 1,200 protesters as well as 20 journalists, four lawyers, and about 25 activists and students. According to official figures, more than 40 people have been killed, including several members of security forces, while rights groups believe the real number of those killed is much higher.

Why It Matters: The protests have been going on despite a violent crackdown during which security forces used water cannons and tear gas while also firing birdshot and live rounds at protesters, according to rights groups. Amateur videos posted online also show the riot police brutally beating protesters, including women who have played a prominent role in the demonstrations. Many of the protesters appear to feel that they have nothing to lose.

An increasing number of Iranians have had enough of life under a repressive regime, a deteriorating economy crushed by U.S. sanctions, and a lack of freedom.

What’s Next: Even if the clerical establishment manages to end the protests through the use of force and intimidation, which is likely, the fury and the many grievances of Iranians, including women who have been burning their compulsory hijabs, will not go away. The bloody crackdown is likely to make Iranians even more furious with the clerical establishment.

In 2009, hundreds of thousand of Iranians held a silent protest against a disputed presidential vote. The government cracked down on the protests, killing over 70 people while arresting at least 5,000. In recent years, protests in the Islamic republic have grown more violent while protesters have moved from the 2009 chants of “Where is my vote?” and demands for reforms to calls for an end to the Islamic republic and for the clerics ruling Iran “to get lost.”

Stories You Might Have Missed

• Iranian soccer star Ali Karimi has angered authorities in the country over his support for the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Tehran's morality police. Calls have been made for the arrest of the highly popular Karimi, who lives in the United Arab Emirates, while others have said his properties should be confiscated.

Karimi is among a number of well-known public figures who have in recent days shown solidarity with the protesters while condemning state violence.

• Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said that Tehran has received a new signal from the United States that the "will and goodwill" exist in Washington to reach an agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. The official IRNA news agency quoted Amir-Abdollahian on September 25 as saying he responded by urging the U.S. side to demonstrate "realism" so the sides could finalize a deal.

U.S. officials have not confirmed any exchange of messages. Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said he met with the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization in Vienna for talks about an ongoing investigation into traces of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites in Iran.

What We're Watching

Ties between Iran and Ukraine have deteriorated over Iran’s sale of drones to Russia for use in its unprovoked war on its neighbor. Ukraine announced over the weekend that it was reducing diplomatic ties with the Islamic republic and withdrawing the accreditation of the Iranian ambassador over Tehran's decision to supply Russian forces with drones, a move Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called "a collaboration with evil.”

Iran reacted by announcing that it will give “an appropriate” response to Ukraine’s decision while also saying that the decision was "based on unconfirmed reports and resulted from media hype by foreign parties.”

Why It Matters: Tehran has in the past dismissed accusations by the United States and Ukraine that it has supplied Russia with drones. But the Ukrainian Air Force has in recent days said that it has shot down and identified Shahed-136 kamikaze drones and Mohajer-6 drones that carry munitions and can also be used for reconnaissance. The ties between the two countries could deteriorate further should Tehran continue to provide Russia with drones.

That’s all from me for now. Don’t forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have.

Until next time,

Golnaz Esfandiari

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.

NOTE TO READERS: This week's newsletter is being published one day earlier to report on the strong reaction across Iran to the death of Mahsa Amini.

Welcome back to The Farda Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that tracks the key issues in Iran and explains why they matter.

I'm RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here's what I’ve been following during the past week and what I’m watching for in the days ahead.

The Big Issue

The death of a young woman following her arrest by Tehran’s morality police has led to widespread outrage among Iranians while sparking several days of protests.

Mahsa Amini, 22, was detained in Tehran on September 13 while visiting the capital with her family. She died three days later in a hospital after slipping into a coma while in the custody of the police, who have maintained that she suffered a heart attack while denying claims by activists that she may have been beaten while taken to the police station to be “educated.”

Her family has said that Amini didn’t have any previous health problems. Her father, Amjad Amini, told an Iranian news website that witnesses saw her being shoved into a police car.

The government has ordered an investigation amid fury on social media, as well as several days of angry protests in her hometown of Saghez and a dozen other cities in Iran’s Kurdistan as well as in Tehran and Rasht, according to amateur videos posted online. Protests also took place in several universities in the Iranian capital, Isfahan, and Tabriz.

Why It Matters: Amini’s death comes amid a tightening of Iran’s hijab crackdown and increased pressure on women who flout the rules. Regardless of whether Amini was beaten up or not, her tragic death has highlighted several decades of state harassment of women who don’t fully respect the hijab restrictions.

Many Iranians have in the past days called for abolishing the morality police and an end to the hijab rule that became compulsory in 1981, two years after the Islamic Revolution. In recent days, women protesting Amini’s death have removed their head scarves in public and waved them defiantly, while some have set fire to them to show their anger and their opposition to the forced hijab.

“Justice, freedom, and optional hijab,” as well as, "Death to the dictator" were some of the chants of protesters in the Iranian capital, where an iconic photo also shows a young woman burning her hijab and showing the victory sign while standing on top of a car.

What’s Next: The establishment has used force and Internet disruption in an attempt to end the protests over Amini’s death, which led to calls for an end to the Islamic republic. The state repression will only lead to increased antiestablishment sentiment, as well as growing public opposition against the morality police and the hijab rule.

The calls for the truth over Amini’s death and an independent investigation are also likely to continue.

Stories You Might Have Missed

• Iran's vice president for women and family affairs, Ensieh Khazali, has been a vocal supporter of intensifying online censorship and clamping down on the use of virtual private networks (VPNs). But Khazali has attracted criticism after it was revealed that her son emigrated to Canada and created a company that sells VPNs. The revelation has triggered calls for the vice president to resign.

• Iranian rights activist Melika Qaragozlu has been sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for protesting the country's mandatory hijab rules, her lawyer says. Mohammad Ali Kamfiruzi, Qaragozlu's lawyer, wrote on Twitter on September 19 that the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran recently handed down the sentence to his client for publishing a few seconds of video of herself without a head scarf on social media.

What We're Watching

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is in New York City to attend the UN General Assembly. This is Raisi’s first time attending the annual event, where he has already met with French President Emmanuel Macron and is likely to talk to other world leaders. He will also be greeted by protests by opposition groups and Iranian expatriates angry at human rights violations in the country and the death of Amini.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said on September 19 that he cannot rule out the possibility that the Iranian delegation, which includes Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdolahian and chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, will have a meeting on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal on the sidelines of the UN meeting.

“We have not left the talks," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Why It Matters: The UN meeting could provide a venue for diplomatic exchanges between Iran, the United States, and EU countries over the renewal of the nuclear deal. It comes amid an impasse in the nuclear talks following Tehran’s latest response, which was described by the U.S. State Department as a “step backward.”

That’s all from me for now. Don’t forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have.

Until next time,

Golnaz Esfandiari

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.