Video summary
Four years have passed since the death of Mahsa Amini, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish woman whose arrest by the morality police for alleged improper hijab wearing sparked a massive uprising known as "Woman, Life, Freedom." Her tragic passing ignited widespread public rage across Iran, leading to protests that claimed the lives of over 500 demonstrators as the regime responded with brutal force and live fire. Recently, Amnesty International released a comprehensive investigation detailing how senior officials directed, executed, and covered up acts constituting crimes against humanity, including systematic murder, torture, and sexual violence. While these findings are significant for international audiences, activists inside Iran have long documented a death toll even higher than the official reports, emphasizing that the uprising has left a deep and enduring wound in Iranian society.
The impact of this movement extends beyond the streets to the families of the victims, who face continued persecution, imprisonment, and forced displacement. The regime strictly prohibits free mourning or public memorials for protesters, often damaging graves and intimidating families into silence or flight. For instance, the family of Nika Shakarami, a sixteen-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and killed by security forces, was eventually forced to flee Iran after repeated arrests and harassment. This pattern of violence is not isolated to the 2022 uprising; recent crackdowns in January saw peaceful protesters killed for demanding the rule of law amidst economic hardship and rising prices, with grieving families left to mourn beside graves piled in black bags while the regime escalated its use of violence rather than seeking dialogue.
Despite the current silence on the streets, which is partly attributed to ongoing war, bombing, and general chaos, this quiet period should not be mistaken for stability or a loss of spirit. Many Iranians remain hopeful that the security forces will eventually weaken, potentially creating a safer opportunity for people to return to the streets. The regime has lost its legitimacy among the Iranian people, who are waiting for the right moment to resume their struggle. Although the movement may appear dormant from time to time due to external pressures and internal exhaustion, it remains an active gathering storm that has not ended. There is a firm belief within the activist community that the protest will return with renewed force, as the Islamic Republic in its current form is viewed as unsustainable for Iran's future.
Read the full video transcript
Today marks exactly four years since
Masa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian
Kurdish woman, died at the hands of the
regime. She was arrested by the morality
police in Tehran for improperly wearing
her hijab. She was taken to a police
station and beaten severely until she
collapsed and soon after died in the
hospital. Her death became the spark
that ignited a wave of public rage gave
birth to the protest slogan, woman,
life, freedom. More than 500 protesters
lost their lives in that struggle as the
regime responded to disscent with brutal
force and live fire. Amnesty
International released a 1,000page
investigation on Wednesday. The findings
claim senior Iranian officials directed,
executed, and subsequently covered up
acts that constitute crimes against
humanity.
To discuss more, we're joined now by
Mitra Jashny, cultural and political
adviser with Iranian Americans for
Liberty. Mitra, thank you so much for
being with us on i24 News Today.
>> Thank you for having me. Well, here we
are four years later and we have some
new findings published by Amnesty
International detailing a systemic
highlevel campaign of murder, torture,
and sexual violence. I want to ask what
impact the woman life freedom uprising
has had on the Iranian public in the
past four years.
These new funings from Amnesty
International may be news to the
international media, but they are not
new to the Iranian people, especially to
activists like us who were in direct
contact with protesters inside Iran. Uh
at the time, we repeatedly warned the
world about the killing, torture, and
sexual violence. We organized campaigns
and documented a death toll even higher
than the figure of 330 reported by
Amnesty International those years. This
uprising have left a very deep wound in
Iranian society. People are not only
angry with the Islamic Republic. They
are also deeply hurt by the way the
international community has responded to
these crimes. Unfortunately, diplomatic
interests have repeatedly been given
more important than the suffering of the
Iranian people. Iranians are living
under a brutal regime while Western
governments continue searching for a new
ways to negotiate with it. This has
created enormous anger and uh has deeply
wounded the national pride of the
Iranian people. Was this a turning point
in the protest movement and how the
regime is actually engaging with some of
those protesters since?
>> Um
actually the answer is uh if I want to
say you how the regime is is acting with
this kind of protest the the answer is
the regime does not allow these families
to mourn freely or hold public memorial.
the regime is acting even more with more
violence with this kind of protest. Even
today we cannot um we continue to
receive reports of the graves of
moderate protesters being damaged or
destroyed. Many families of the killed
in the 2022 uprising have either been
imprisoned or forced to leave Iran
because of systematic uh pressure and
intimidation.
Um, I want to just hint because today
was about the Nikos Shakaramis in
Iranian social media. Nikos Shakaram's
mother Nasarin and her sister Ida were
eventually forced to flee Iran because
of facing a repeated arrested, treated
and
persecution. Nika was only 16 years old.
A BBC investigation based on leaked
internal documents reported that she was
sexually assaulted and killed by members
of the regime security forces. Actually
we see this pattern for each protest not
only for example for women life freedom
protest. Even the last the this January
we received a lot of uh messages and a
lot of reports from inside the Iran
espeial from the
family of the victims that they are
under the tortured and the same uh
problem and situation they have now
inside the Iran.
How are those inside Iran been marking
for years since the death of Ameni and
the spark of this protest movement that
has also continued into the multiple
different protest movements that we've
seen then? What is happening inside Iran
today? And are security forces allowing
any sort of memorial or gathering to
actually take place?
>> Yeah, actually I I can send you exactly
no. So the regime has not changed in its
behavior. In fact, it has increased the
pressure not only on protesters but also
on their families simply because they
continue to demand truth and justice. Uh
I am not sure we can speak of a change
unless by change we mean an escalation
in violence. This January as I said we
witness another bloody crackdown on
peaceful protesters. People came into
the street because they were exhausted
by oppression, injustice and rising
prices. They demanded the rule of law
and chanted together Jabicha. Many were
killed simply for raising their voices.
We saw bodies piled in black bags at
Kahriag and grieving families dancing
through their tears beside the graves of
their children. The regime has learned
nothing except how to use even greater
violence. Its response to every new
protest is becoming faster, broader, and
more brutal.
>> You describe the violence, the gruesome
scenes that took place in 2022 and took
place at the beginning of this year in
2026. So, what would it take to see
another widespread uprising like the one
we saw in January before the war started
when you still have this fear and you
can see the repercussions and the force
that the regime is willing to take
against these protesters? What would it
take to get them back to the streets?
Then
>> I believe this uprising will return. The
current silence should be not should not
be mistaken for a stability. The protest
slowed partly because of the war, the
continued bombing, economic hardship,
and general chaos. Many Iranians hoped
that after the United States and Israel
targeted key regime figures, the
security forces would be weakened and
people would have a safer opportunity to
return to the streets. But that
opportunity never came. Still, the
Islamic Republic has lost its legitimacy
among the Iranians people. They are
waiting for the right moment. This
movement may become quiet from time to
time, but it has not ended. It is a
gathering storm and I have no doubt that
the protest will return. The Islamic
Republic in its current form will not
survive Iran's future.
>> Mitra Josh, I appreciate you being with
us on i24 News today and sharing your
insight on what happened in 2022 and
what we might see in the future as well
from Iran. Thanks for being with us.
Thank you very much, Lee.