Mahsa Amini’s Death Is a ‘Tipping Point’, Says US-Based Iranian Journalist

Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad hold up a photo of an Iranian woman who was killed during the current protest in Iran as speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP)
Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad hold up a photo of an Iranian woman who was killed during the current protest in Iran as speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP)
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Mahsa Amini’s Death Is a ‘Tipping Point’, Says US-Based Iranian Journalist

Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad hold up a photo of an Iranian woman who was killed during the current protest in Iran as speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP)
Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad hold up a photo of an Iranian woman who was killed during the current protest in Iran as speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP)

Masih Alinejad, a US-based Iranian journalist and women's rights activist, said the protests erupting in dozens of cities over the death of young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in police custody is a "tipping point" for Iran.

"For the Islamic Republic, the murder of Mahsa Amini is becoming a tipping point because compulsory hijab is not just a small piece of cloth," Alinejad told Reuters on Tuesday in New York. "It's like the Berlin Wall. And if Iranian women manage to tear this wall down, the Islamic Republic won't exist."

Amini, 22, from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez, was arrested on Sept. 13 in Tehran for "unsuitable attire" by the morality police who enforce the country's strict dress code. She died three days later in hospital after falling into a coma, sparking the first big show of opposition on Iran's streets since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.

Police say she fell ill as she waited with other detained women.

"This movement is the result of 40 years of women fighting back, pushing back the boundaries," Alinejad said. "I get goosebumps because when I launched the campaign against compulsory hijab, I never thought that this is going to happen while I'm alive."

Alinejad started a social media campaign in 2014 encouraging women in Iran to share self-portraits without the veil, which she then shares on her Facebook page, "My Stealthy Freedom."

Amini's death has drawn widespread international condemnation while Iran has blamed "thugs" linked to "foreign enemies" for the unrest. Tehran has accused the United States and some European countries of using the unrest to try to destabilize the country.



PKK Disarmament to Take a Few Months in Iraq, Türkiye Ruling Party Says

Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo
Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo
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PKK Disarmament to Take a Few Months in Iraq, Türkiye Ruling Party Says

Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo
Türkiye's European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Turkish Embassy in London, Britain, September, 14, 2017. REUTERS/Will Russell/File photo

The handover of weapons by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Iraq, following its decision to disband, should be completed within a few months, a spokeperson for Türkiye's ruling AK Party said late on Wednesday.

Speaking to broadcaster NTV, Omer Celik said a confirmation mechanism, including officials from Turkish intelligence and the armed forces, will oversee the handover process.

"The disarmament ... process (in Iraq) needs to be completed within three to five months... If it exceeds this period, it will become vulnerable to provocations," Celik said on NTV, Reuters reported.

The PKK, which has been locked in a bloody conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, decided in May to disband and end its armed struggle.

PKK militants are set to begin handing over weapons in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday as part of the peace process with Türkiye.

Since the PKK launched its insurgency against Türkiye in 1984 - originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state - the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a huge economic burden and fuelled social tensions.