Who is Mahsa Amini, and Why Did Her Death Spark Protests in Iran?

Clashes between protesters and security forces since her death in police custody have left scores of people dead and injured.

By David S. Cloud
Sept. 23, 2022
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Demonstrations broke out across Iran after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody on Sept. 16. She was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress code requiring women to wear headscarves, or hijabs. Protesters burned headscarves and clashed with police, who used tear gas, water cannons and firearms loaded with metal pellets to quell the unrest.

A 22-year-old from northwest Iran, Mahsa Amini was visiting Tehran when police arrested her for allegedly violating laws requiring women to wear a headscarf. She fell into a coma after what her family said was mistreatment and died in a hospital.

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Protests erupted in Ms. Amini’s hometown in northwest Iran after her funeral on Sept. 17, spreading to Tehran and other cities. Crowds clashed with security forces, attacked symbols of the regime and burned headscarves.

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In Tehran, students faced off against police, voicing anger over restrictions on freedoms. At all-female Al-Zahra University, students chanted anti-regime slogans, with many women removing their headscarves.

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In Tehran, protesters took to the streets in the evening, erected burning barriers and faced off against police in riot gear. Small crowds of demonstrators chanted “death to the dictator,” referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

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Police made arrests and sought to disperse protesters using batons, water cannons, tear gas and firing projectiles. Authorities blocked the internet, hoping to prevent the unrest from spreading.

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The latest protests come after teachers, farmers and middle-class professionals have also taken to the streets, decrying the state of the country’s economy and calling for a change in government earlier this year.

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At least 16 people in western Iran have died since protests began on Saturday after Ms. Amini’s funeral, as clashes erupted with security forces, according to Hengaw, a human-rights organization.

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Nasibe Samsaei, an Iranian woman living in Turkey, cut her hair during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini, outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul this week.

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Iranians lit candles and held pictures of Mahsa Amini during a protest in Istanbul. Inside Iran, the crowds appeared to be relatively smaller amid a heavy presence of security forces.

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Produced by Patrick Whalen
Cover Photo: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images