Iran’s security forces have skillfully been trying to prevent the latest series of anti-regime protests from spinning out of control. After decades of suppressing challenges to regime stability, the regime’s militias and law enforcement agencies are doubtless hoping to have perfected their strategy and tactics against opposition movements.
After the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, opposition demonstrations exploded across Iran. The “Morals Police” had ostensibly arrested Amini for failing to cover her hair adequately – or “bad hijab.”
Women, especially professional women, have long expressed their contempt for the hair-covering mandate ever since the start of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, when tens of thousands of them marched in Tehran to denounce the ruling by the newly installed “mullahcracy.”
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What began as public protest — with women burning their hijabs to protest Amini’s death in a hospital on September 16 — quickly evolved into massive street clashes across the country.
The demonstrations have continued for two months. Several commentators remarked that that this time the anti-regime protests are different, implying that the regime might not survive. After decades of anti-regime demonstrations, the security forces perhaps believe they have learned how and when to apply the right amount of force.
Read more: Gatestone Institute
