The response of the Iranian regime to the death in police custody of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, is dismayingly familiar. First, the authorities lied about what happened, claiming Amini died of natural causes despite eyewitness testimony that she was repeatedly beaten by officers. Then, as demonstrations spread across the country, they attempted a cover-up while denouncing the protesters as enemies of the Islamic revolution.
Now, facing unassuaged public fury and an increasingly politicised backlash, regime leaders have launched a violent crackdown, causing more deaths. Marchers at state-organised counter-demonstrations demand the execution of “offenders of the Qur’an” while Tehran’s misnomered intelligence ministry slanders protesters as seditionists opposed to religious values.
