Mahsa Amini Not Forgotten in Iran Six Months after Death

An woman holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, during a demonstration in front of the German lower house of parliament (Bundestag), on the occasion of the International Women's Day, on March 8, 2023. (AFP)
An woman holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, during a demonstration in front of the German lower house of parliament (Bundestag), on the occasion of the International Women's Day, on March 8, 2023. (AFP)
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Mahsa Amini Not Forgotten in Iran Six Months after Death

An woman holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, during a demonstration in front of the German lower house of parliament (Bundestag), on the occasion of the International Women's Day, on March 8, 2023. (AFP)
An woman holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the morality police, during a demonstration in front of the German lower house of parliament (Bundestag), on the occasion of the International Women's Day, on March 8, 2023. (AFP)

Six months ago this week, Mahsa Amini was arrested for allegedly flouting Iran's strict dress code for women. Within days she was dead, sparking the country's biggest protests in years.

The 22-year ethnic Kurd became a household name inside Iran, a rallying point for demands for change. Around the world, she became a hero for women's rights campaigners and a symbol for Western opponents of the Tehran regime.

Amini was visiting the capital Tehran with her brother and cousins when she was arrested as they were leaving a metro station in the city center last September.

Accused of wearing "inappropriate" attire, she was taken to a police station by officers of the morality police.

There she collapsed after a quarrel with a policewoman, according to a short surveillance video released by the authorities.

She spent three days in hospital in a coma before her death on September 16, which the authorities blamed on underlying health issues.

For many, the young woman from the western city of Saqez personified the fight against the obligation to wear the headscarf. Her name became the rallying point for a protest movement that gripped the country for months.

The epitaph engraved on her tomb reads: "You are not dead Mahsa, your name has become a symbol".

Almost overnight, her portrait became ubiquitous in Iran's cities, fly-postered on walls and held aloft by protesters. It even made the cover of some magazines published inside Iran, including the March edition of the monthly Andisheh Pouya.

"Unknown before her death, Mahsa has become a symbol of oppression and her innocent face reinforces this image," said political scientist Ahmad Zeidabadi.

Call for openness

The protests over her death in custody, which began in the capital and in her native Kurdistan province, swiftly mushroomed into a nationwide movement for change.

Public anger over her death merged with "a series of problems, including the economic crisis, attitudes toward the morality police, or political issues such as the disqualification of candidates for election" by Iran's conservative-dominated vetting body the Guardian Council, said sociologist Abbas Abdi.

Spearheaded by young people demanding gender equality and greater openness without a leader or political program, the street protests peaked late last year.

Hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of security force personnel. Thousands more were arrested for participating in what officials described as "riots" and blamed on hostile forces linked to the United States, Israel and their allies.

In February, after the protests abated and supreme leader Ali Khamenei decreed a partial amnesty, the authorities began to release thousands of people arrested in connection with the protests.

Some 22,600 people "linked to the riots" have so far been released, the head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said this week.

But Abdi said protesters could return to the streets again as the underlying grievances remained unaddressed.

"The demonstrations are over, but I doubt the protest has ended," he said, noting that "the main causes of the crisis remain.

"In the current situation, any incident can trigger new protests."

He cited as an example the public anger sparked by a spate of mystery poisonings that have affected thousands of pupils at more than 200 girls' schools over the past three months.

Quiet change

The mass demonstrations inside Iran, among the largest since the 1979 revolution, prompted some in the exiled opposition to talk of an imminent change of regime.

"Some people, especially in the diaspora, have mistakenly bet on the fall of the Islamic republic in the very near future," political scientist Zeidabadi said.

Zeidabadi argued that the emigres had misunderstood the nature of the protest movement which he said was more "civic" than political.

He stressed that, viewed in that fashion, the movement had produced "results", notably a quiet relaxation in enforcement of the dress code for women.

"A certain degree of freedom from the hijab is tolerated even if the law and the rules have not changed," Zeidabadi said.

He predicted similarly discreet and cautious reforms in other areas, notably the economy, which has been blighted by inflation of around 50 percent and a record depreciation of the rial against the dollar.

"It seems that Tehran has realized the need for a change of policy, although there is no consensus within it on a lasting response to meet the challenge."



Harris Tries to Thread the Needle on Gaza After Meeting with Netanyahu 

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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Harris Tries to Thread the Needle on Gaza After Meeting with Netanyahu 

US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, in Washington, DC, US, July 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Vice President Kamala Harris, the likely Democratic nominee for president, is attempting to bridge divides within the party over the war in Gaza, emphasizing Israel's right to defend itself while also focusing on alleviating Palestinian suffering.

She delivered remarks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that reflected a delicate balancing act on one of the country's most divisive political issues. Some Democrats have been critical of President Joe Biden's steadfast support for Israel despite the increasing death toll among Palestinians, and Harris is trying to unite her party for the election battle with Republican candidate Donald Trump.

"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," she said. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."

Harris did not deviate from the administration's approach to the conflict, including grueling negotiations aimed at ending the fighting, releasing hostages held by Hamas and eventually rebuilding Gaza. She also said nothing about military assistance for Israel, which some Democrats want to cut.

Instead, she tried to refocus the conversation around mitigating the calamity in Gaza, and she used language intended to nudge Americans toward an elusive middle ground.

"The war in Gaza is not a binary issue," she said. "But too often, the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but."

In addition, Harris made a more explicit appeal to voters who have been frustrated by the ceaseless bloodshed, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

"To everyone who has been calling for a ceasefire, and to everyone who yearns for peace, I see you, and I hear you," she said.

Harris' meeting with Netanyahu was private, and she described it as "frank and constructive." She also emphasized her longtime support for Israel, which includes raising money to plant trees in the country when she was a young girl.

Jewish Americans traditionally lean Democratic, but Republicans have tried to make inroads. Trump claimed this week that Harris "is totally against the Jewish people" because she didn't attend Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of Congress. The vice president was traveling in Indiana during the speech.

Harris is married to a Jewish man, Doug Emhoff, who has played an outspoken role in the administration's efforts to combat antisemitism.

Netanyahu did not speak publicly after his meeting with Harris. His trip was scheduled before Biden dropped his reelection bid, but the meeting with Harris was watched closely for clues to her views on Israel.

"She is in a tricky situation and walking a tightrope where she’s still the vice president and the president really is the one who leads on the foreign policy agenda," said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat whose city is home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the nation. "But as the candidate, the presumptive nominee, she has to now create the space to differentiate in order for her to chart a new course."

Protesters gathered outside Union Station on the day of Netanyahu's speech, ripping down American flags and spray painting "Hamas is coming."

Harris sharply criticized those actions, saying there were "despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric. "

"I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation," she said in a statement.

As vice president, Harris has tried to show little daylight between herself and Biden. But David Rothkopf, a foreign policy writer who has met with her, said there's been "a noticeable difference in tone, particularly in regards to concern for the plight of innocent Palestinians."

The difference was on display in Selma, Alabama, in March, when Harris commemorated the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights in 1965.

During her speech, Harris said that "given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire."

The audience broke out in applause. A few sentences later, Harris emphasized that it was up to Hamas to accept the deal that had been offered. But her demand for a ceasefire still resonated in ways that Biden's comments had not.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in June found that about 6 in 10 Democrats disapproved of the way Biden is handling the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Roughly the same number said Israel's military response in Gaza had gone too far.

Israeli analysts said they doubted that Harris would present a dramatic shift in policies toward their country.

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank, said Harris was from a generation of American politicians who felt they could both support Israel and publicly criticize its policies.

"The question is as president, what would she do?" Freilich said. "I think she would put considerably more pressure on Israel on the Palestinian issue overall."