On September 17th, 2022 protests broke out all over the country of Iran, in reaction to Mahsa Amini’s death. Mahsa Amini was a twenty-two-year-old woman who died after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police”. These “morality police”  are Iran’s official religious police that enforces and ensures that the people are following the religious and public morals, “a committee for commanding right and forbidding wrong” (econnomist.com). Mahsa Amini was arrested on September 13th for going against the Islamic strict dress code for women since she wasn’t wearing her headscarf properly, and was put into custody at a reeducation camp. Then two days later on September 16th, Mahsa died after falling into a coma and supposedly had a heart attack after being “educated” at the station.  Her family and many others blame her death on the police. 

Just the next day, word got out about Mahsa’s death and protests started erupting on the streets and on social media. Iran’s government is reacting to the people’s anger by killing and arresting the protestors. Protestors crowded Amini’s funeral in Saqez, which is where she grew up. Tear gas was enforced and they moved to the provincial capital and the University of Tehran, the capital of Iran, also where Amini was arrested. Women were seen removing headscarves and cutting their hair meanwhile chanting “death to the dictator” and “Woman, Life, Freedom”. As the days go by, the protests increase and become more intense. They take place in Rasht, Mashhad, Tehran, and Isfahan. This world news has reached the United States, one of Iran’s enemies and they call for Iran’s accountability for Mahsa Amini’s death. 

On September 20th, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran’s current regime, paid his condolences to Mahsa’s family and shut down internet access, like WhatsApp and Instagram. Chaos is spreading all over Iran, such as torching vehicles and police stations. Even after weeks of protesting and the death toll increasing and increasing, protestors are still fighting for freedom and morals. In Northern Iraq, 14 more people were killed and 10 Iranian Kurdish bases were struck. Ambassadors from Norway and Britain have been summoned by Irian media reports and call it interference and nationwide unrest. 

Rallies were spread to Madrid, London, and Rome. Protests are still going on to this day, and the death toll is up to 201 since October 12th, 2022, and many people were arrested, including 28 journalists that were writing about the topic. Women in Iran had enough and had wanted freedom for years now, these ambitious group protestors have pushed the limit with their government. The Mahsa Amini protests have been the deadliest since the protests in 2019-2020.