By Pieter Cleppe
The ongoing protests in Iran against the mandatory hijab have now become as widespread as the 2019 protests, which resulted in 1500 deaths after the regime cracked down hard.
🇮🇷 Locations of #IranProtests (Map 👇) – Day 9#IranProtests2022 are now as widespread as the 2019 protests https://t.co/vNWHdPUPMC
— Prof. Michael Tanchum (@michaeltanchum) September 25, 2022
Iran’s exiled former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged the world to respond by targeting the regime and its associates through “specific measures” like the Magnitsky Act.
Commenting to CNN, Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, stated young Iranians “don’t want this system any more,” “They want democracy.” “They want a new government… This generation is very, very different from us,” she tells me, especially young men’s solidarity with women’s rights inside Iran.
Activist Masih Alinejad commented:
“Women of Iran are leading a movement against religious dictatorship.
We are not fighting against a small piece of cloth.
Forced hijab is one of the most visible symbol of oppression.
We want separation from religion and politics in the Middle East.”
Thread:
1/. As the death toll rises to 41 today, four women you should know who were deliberately and unlawfully killed in Iran when protesting gender apartheid and the killing of #Masha_Amini:Hadis Najafi, aged 20, shot six times when security forces opened fire on her. pic.twitter.com/ZjbOTo3Zq3
— Omid Djalili (@omid9) September 26, 2022
For the brave women and men in #Iran. A bitter reminder there are still too many women and girls worldwide suffering from persecution. #MahsaAmini
(Artwork by Estonian artist Eiko Ojala) pic.twitter.com/7ocuBZClLh
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) September 29, 2022
Separately, German ECR MEP Lars Patrick Berg lamented Iran’s aggressive actions in neighbouring Iraq, after meeting the Head of Mission of Kurdistan’s Regional Government.
Berg stated:
“Iran’s attacks on the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in Iraq destabilise the security situation in the entire region. The European Union  must have an interest in de-escalating the situation.”
Treffen mit @DelavarAjgeiy Head of Mission #Kurdistan Regional Government (#KRG). Angriffe Irans auf die Autonome Region Kurdistan im Irak 🇮🇶 destabilisieren die Sicherheitslage in der gesamten Region. Europäische Union 🇪🇺 muss ein Interesse daran haben, die Lage zu deeskalieren. pic.twitter.com/frYhA10qWt
— Lars Patrick Berg MdEP (@L_P_Berg) September 28, 2022