Mahsa Amini’s death opened ‘rifts’ in Iran. Experts say there is no going back now.

four months after the death of Mahsa AminiCivil unrest continues in Iran despite regime efforts to quell it.

The 22-year-old’s death at the hands of Iran’s morality police on September 16, 2022, exposed years of built-up anger in society over issues such as the economy and discrimination against ethnic minorities, as well as strict social and political controls.

The protests have transformed Iran and threaten the regime, said Shahzad Mojab, a professor at the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto. He said that despite the government’s crackdown, the Iranian people were showing “defiance” by keeping their movement alive.

“It is impossible to go back in time before Mahsa Amini was killed. The scar is there and it is not reversible, and it has to move forward,” Mojab told Global News.

“That’s why the government is so scared of the demands of women and the entire population. Their demands are for freedom, democracy, equality, better life and employment, change in the economic situation, poverty, inflation, corruption. These are the demands of the people. “

In recent weeks, Iran has carried out dozens of executions in a bid to intimidate Iranians angered by Amini’s killing.

Last week, Iran’s judiciary sentenced three protesters to death on charges of “waging war on God”, sparking growing international criticism over its crackdown on protesters.

Iran recently executed two other people in its efforts to quell the unrest.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has indicated that the kingdom has no intention of softening its position, saying that “those who set fire to public places have undoubtedly committed treason.”

Under Iranian law, treason is punishable by death.

Human rights activists see Iran’s actions as an attempt to intimidate protesters and instill enough fear in the population to end the unrest. Last month, Amnesty International said Iranian authorities are seeking the death penalty for at least 26 others in “sham trials designed to intimidate protesters”.

Small-scale protests continue in Tehran, Isfahan and several other cities, despite Iran’s doubling down on repression.

“The government is committed to this repression, but the people are also committed to fighting back. It is an equal force,” Mojab said.

“The government is killing people mercilessly without any fear, and people are standing up against the government. It may not have a public presence, but it is happening now. There is fire.

Economically, many people in Iran are feeling the pain of high inflation and increased unemployment.

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Inflation has gone up to more than 50 percent. Youth unemployment is high, with more than 50 percent of Iranians pushed into poverty, reports Iran’s Statistics Center.

There are no signs that the regime is working on new policies to try to win over the public, focusing instead on crushing opposition.

Iran’s regime, which is the subject of numerous sanctions, is “in a very fragile state”, but there is no sign that it is about to end, Maral Karimi said. The Iranian Green Movement of 2009: Echoes of Resistance Resound.

Unrest broke out in Iran after the 2009 presidential election. In protests dubbed the Green Movement, many Iranians took to the streets demanding changes to Iranian society. The movement eventually failed as the government became tough.

This time, the regime does not have the same ideological legitimacy, political capital or economic power, and the demonstrations have exposed “gaps and cracks” in Iranian society, such as the suppression of the rights of women and minorities, she said.

“At a time of sociological explosion, society gets this explosion of education. Suddenly, there’s a lot of awareness about the unfairness of the Islamic Republic’s laws when it comes to women,” Karimi said.

“There’s no way the state can force them to give up that education, but whether or not the rule is being toppled remains to be seen.”

As part of the protests, Canada and its allies have imposed sanctions against several Iranian officials and entities.

So far, the federal government has imposed sanctions on 127 Iranian individuals and 189 Iranian entities, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the regime’s security, intelligence and economic apparatus.

In November 2022, Canada designated Iran as a regime that engages in “terrorism” and systematic and gross violations of human rights. The move meant thousands of senior members of the Iranian regime – including many members of the IRGC – were declared inadmissible to Canada.

Although the Trudeau government has stopped short of listing the IRGC as a terrorist entity, Mojab said something must be done. In November, Global News reported a Ontario Superior Court judge found IRGC was “a listed entity by association” because one of its branches, quds forcehad already been designated as such by Canada.

“This is the No. 1 demand of all Iranian-Canadians,” Mojab said.

“It really bothers a lot of us.”

Karimi said that Canada could take a “global leadership” in action against the Iranian regime, not only because of the large Iranian-Canadian population in the country, but also because of flight PS752.

In January 2020, a Ukraine International Airlines jetliner was shot down by Iranian authorities shortly after taking off from Tehran, killing one hundred and seventy-six people.

Most of the passengers were bound for Canada via Ukraine, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.

“Canada and the international community need to move beyond simply sanctioning individuals and sanctioned institutions like the IRGC,” Karimi said.

As for the current protests, Mojab said he expects them to increase as the February 11 anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution approaches.

“The more they execute young people in these brief execs that they’re doing, the more fear they hope to instill, but people are coming back and they’re not going to sit quiet anymore,” she said.

“And especially with the deteriorating economic situation, people have nothing to lose so they will be on the street, they will be protesting.”

With Reuters files