Russia and Iran have wildly different histories, cultures and demographics. But today, a similar aura is beginning to waft over both countries: anxiousness, bordering on restlessness.
In Iran, tens of thousands of people, many of them young, have been taking to the streets in dozens of cities and towns to demonstrate against the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was nabbed by Iran’s notorious morality police last month for what they called improper dress. Badly beaten, Amini ended up in a hospital bed and died after falling into a coma.
Originally, the protests centered on the horrific behavior perpetrated by the despised morality police. But as Iranian security forces have cracked down, leading to dozens of deaths, the grievances have multiplied. Iranians who find themselves in a seemingly endless spiral of deprivation and frustration are using the momentum generated by Amini’s death to register loud complaints about Iran’s ruling system. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a man who has headed that system since 1989, is now hearing chants calling for his death.
