Explainer: Iran's University Protests

Students were the trigger and sustaining force behind protests that erupted on September 16. During the first two months, young Iranians demonstrated against the government at some 143 universities in all 31 provinces, which led to government crackdowns and hundreds of deaths. By early January 2023, at least 685 students had been detained. The initial demonstrations—shortly after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurd—broke out in the capital and Kurdish cities.

Some of the information in this article was originally published on November 10, 2022.

Iran’s #HairForFreedom Campaign Goes Global

Iran’s protests – launched over personal freedoms for women – have inspired a campaign by women across the globe who are cutting their hair and posting videos using the #HairForFreedom hashtag on Instagram. The protests erupted after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd, was detained for showing too much hair under her Islamic headscarf. A video captured her collapse at a reeducation center; she went into a coma and died three days later. In the early protests, Iranian women took videos ripping off their hijabs and cutting their hair as acts of defiance.

World Leaders on Mahsa Amini’s Death and Protests

World leaders widely condemned Iran’s crackdown on protests after the death in detention of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained for improper hijab, or head covering. “We stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights,” President Joe Biden told the U.N. General Assembly on September 21. A day later, the United States sanctioned the morality police and seven senior security officials for Amini's death and the subsequent violence against protestors.

Some of the information in this article was originally published on September 28, 2022.

U.S. Helps Expand Internet Access for Iranians

On September 23, the Treasury Department authorized American companies to expand the range of internet services – which otherwise could be restricted by U.S. sanctions – available to ordinary Iranians. “Today we are issuing a General License to advance our efforts and commitments to ensure that the Iranian people can freely access information online,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Some of the information in this article was originally published on September 23, 2022.

Iran and the Rushdie Attack

On August 12, award-winning novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen in an assassination attempt while lecturing at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Hadi Matar, the 24-year-old assailant and the son of immigrants from Lebanon, supported Iran and Hezbollah, its Lebanese proxy. Rushdie has been a target of militant Muslims since 1989, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa condemning the British-American writer to death for alleged blasphemy in his novel “The Satanic Verses.” A religious foundation offered millions in reward money.

U.S. Charges Iranian for Bolton Murder Plot

On August 10, the Justice Department announced charges against an Iranian national for plotting to murder John Bolton, who served as national security advisor to President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019. Shahram Poursafi, 45, planned the operation, “likely in retaliation” for the U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force. Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in early 2020.