2021–2023 Iranian protests

Protests broke out on 15 July in Khuzestan due to worsening water shortages during the summer and spread across the country in the following days.

From 6–7 September, massive rallies protested the bad economic situation in Iran.[12]

By November the number of female demonstrators had heavily increased.[13]

From November 9–27 crowds of 2,000-3,000 Iranians in Isfahan gathered to hold demonstrations against water shortages, which increasingly grew violent over time. On November 27, the Islamic Republic employed large numbers of riot police, arrested at least 67 protesters, and repressed the protests.[14]

On February 1, 2022, thousands of teachers across the country performed a one-day strike after three consecutive days of protests.[15] The next day, a policeman was stabbed to death by an unknown attacker. Military officer Hossein Ashtari proposed a new law that would make it easier for police officers to use firearms, prompting worries that such a practice could provide a license to police brutality against civilians.[16]

Protests in Iran broke out in early May after a hike in wheat prices.[17]

An ongoing series of protests and civil unrest against the government began in Tehran on 16 September 2022 as a reaction to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini (Persian: مهسا امینی), who had been arrested by the Guidance Patrol for wearing an "improper" hijab — in violation of the Islamic mandatory hijab law — while visiting Tehran from Saqqez. According to eyewitnesses, Amini had been severely beaten by Guidance Patrol officers, an assertion denied by the government. On 20 September 2022, 16-year-old Iranian teenager Nika Shakarami (Persian: نیکا شاکرمی) disappeared in Tehran during the 2022 Iranian protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. Her family was informed of her death ten days later. She had died under suspicious circumstances suspected to involve violence by security forces. After her body was identified by her family, they planned to bury her in Khorramabad, but the body was allegedly stolen by the authorities and instead buried in Hayat ol Gheyb, reportedly to exercise leverage over her family and to avoid a funeral procession which could cause further protests.

The government seeks to prevent the protesters from coordinating and from coming together under a unified leadership. Because professional militaries sometimes refuse to attack their own people, the government prefers to rely on the Basij to enforce domestic order against protestors. With technological support from China and Russia, the government maintains the capability to shut down Internet and cellphone services. If protestors bring phones and neglect to disable tracking, the government attempts to track and identify protestors through the phones' GPS. CNN interviews have charged the government with tactics such as forced confessions, threats to uninvolved family members, and torture, including electric shocks, controlled drowning, and mock executions.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has blamed the United States and Israel for protests that have gripped the country for more than two weeks, accusing the countries of trying to stop the Islamic Republic’s “progress”.

Prior to their first game at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar against England, the national football team of Iran refused to sing the national anthem and team captain Ehsan Hajsafi stated that the team supported the Mahsa Amini protestors.[19] After Iran missed the bracket phase of the tournament by losing the third and final group match to the United States, 1–0, Iranians in Tehran and other cities celebrated the team's exit from the World Cup, perceiving the Game 3 loss to the Americans as a victory in of itself against the Islamic regime. As the Mahsa Amini protests continued, the promotion of the soccer team had shifted focus from the ongoing demonstrations. In allegiance against the theocratic regime, people gathered against the regime by celebrating the loss early Wednesday morning on November 30. This protest took the form of honking car horns, dancing, and whistling. Many Iranian citizens believed that their government has politicized and weaponized their national soccer team, and thus it no longer represents them. The players' family members were threatened with torture if they were caught criticizing the government or expressing support of protesters.[20] One Iranian celebrating the team's downfall was gunned down in the streets.

As the protests continued in Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the Basij militia, and police responded by utilizing live ammunition, tear gas, batons, and water cannons in an intensified effort to quell the protesters,[21] becoming less hesitant to inflict injury and death. Over 10,000 protesters were imprisoned without due process of law. Khamenei himself also warned civilians to cease and desist.[22]

On the 24th of November, the UN Human Rights Council held a special meeting to discuss Iran and formally begin an investigation into the protests. The Islamic Republic’s officials refused to participate in this meeting.[23]

The Time magazine honored all the women of Iran as Heroes of 2022.

On Student Day, December 7, 2022, several Iranian students in universities protested and skipped class instead. They chanted "Be afraid, be afraid, we are all together.[24] On that same day, Badri Hosseini Khamenei, who is Khamenei's sister, openly opposed her brother's decisions in pertinence to the protests labelling it “despotic”. She wrote in a letter that she stands, and will always stand with the women of Iran. She continues to state that the regime is only bringing suffering and exercising oppression on its people.[25]

The Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran carried out its first execution following the national uprising on the 8th of December 2022. Mohsen Shekari was sentenced to death by hanging. He was accused of attacking a member of the Basij with a machete. Following the execution of Mohsen Shekari, in solidarity against this decision, across the nation there was a 3-day long labor strike. At this time, it is reported that casualties are an estimation of at least 400 people and over 18,000 people have been detained.[26]

On December 8, The Qom Province IRGC Intelligence Organization formally arrested anti regime leaders who actively protested on social media. The rise of punishments against civilians has decreased turnout for protests on the dates 5-7 of December.[27]

On the 9th of December, the governments of Canada and United States in a joint statement have imposed sanctions on the Islamic republic’s personnel on the grounds of human rights violations against three specific law enforcers for government violence, Ali Akbar Javidan, Ebrahim Kouchakzaei, and Allah Karam Azizi. They have been accused of conducting attacks that have resulted in the loss of life of protestors, raping a 15 year old girl, and abusing prisoners. Canada has banned 10,000 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from entering the country.[27]

On the 9th of December it was reported that several senior officials have approved death penalties for the those who have been arrested in connection to the ongoing protests. Parliamentary Judiciary and Legal Committee Chairperson, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, has publicly stated that the execution of Mohsen Shekari is a message to remaining protestors. The president of Islamic republic, President Ebrahim Raisi, has also stated that figures of authority will be punishing those who continue acts of violence in connection to protests. In addition, Senior officials from the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has endorsed similar message that the signal the punishments sends is effective in reducing protest turnout. In addition, on December 9, regime leaders continue to mandate mandatory veiling for women. A representative of the Parliamentary, Hossein Jalali publicly announced that women who do not abide by veiling laws will no longer have access to government services, benefits, and work.[27]

The government continued to maintain restrictions on internet use limiting the communications between the government of the Islamic regime and the rest of the world.[28]

The Islamic Revolutionary Court carried out another public hanging of a protester in Mashhad on 12 December. Majidreza Rahnavard was accused of stabbing to death two members of the Basij.[29] That same day, the New Zealand Government imposed travel bans on 22 members of the security forces connected to Mahsa Amini's death and the violent suppression of the protests. Individuals affected by the ban have included Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami, Basij Commander Gholam-Reza Soleimani, Law Enforcement Command chief commander Hossein Ashtari, and Guidance Patrol Commander Mohammed Rostami.[30]

Iran carried out the execution of two protesters by hanging on 7 January. Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini were sentenced for allegedly being involved in the mob killing of Basij member Ruhollah Ajamian. The men had previously appealed against their sentence, claiming to have been tortured into making false confessions.[31]