All you need to know about the Iran protests and the death of Mahsa Amini.
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00:00 If I may quote a friend of mine, she said before the revolution we felt that all doors
00:13 are open. After the revolution, it all changed.
00:20 Many women in Iran are saying that they have had enough, frustrated by an erosion of their
00:24 rights after the 1979 revolution and following the death of Masa Amini in the custody of
00:30 the morality police, that frustration has boiled over and into anger.
00:35 Masa was 22 and arrested for allegedly not complying with government standards on wearing
00:41 the hijab. She never left custody alive and since then, women have been burning their
00:47 head scarves and cutting their hair in protest. And they're rallying cry in the streets and
00:52 online, women, life, freedom.
00:55 Women they have been participating in almost all the protests during the Islamic Republic
01:02 but now their role has been changed. Now they are playing a role of leadership.
01:10 It is inspiring that after decades of struggle against these compulsory veiling laws, their
01:16 cries for being able to choose what to wear is finally being heard at the international
01:23 level.
01:24 Supported by many men and boys, women are calling for bodily autonomy and fundamental
01:29 freedoms and after decades of economic decline, protesters in cities and rural areas are also
01:35 demanding regime change. With Gen Z conscious of the fact that elsewhere, life looks different.
01:42 This is a younger generation who is very well connected to the outside world and knows how
01:52 other young people live, especially in the West. So they would like to follow that example.
02:01 This is the revolution of the young people led by women.
02:06 The fear barrier is broken. So look just at the pictures. Very young girls, they burn
02:17 their head scarves, they're cutting off their hair. And look at the students at high school,
02:23 at the school, how they are reacting to the officials. That's really different from all
02:30 the protests in the past. They compare themselves with others, asking themselves why I have
02:39 not this kind of freedom in my country. They are ready, I think, to pay the price.
02:49 Their bravery has been met with a brutal crackdown by authorities and according to data from
02:54 the Center for Human Rights in Iran, as of the 31st of October, at least 283 people have
03:01 been killed and over 14,000 arrested with reports that no age group is being spared.
03:07 It is also very worrisome that they are taking young, you know, elementary and high school
03:16 students and taking them in these reformation setups and teaching them how to behave and
03:24 how to indoctrinate them just because their children in elementary and middle school are
03:31 also protesting.
03:34 And with social media playing a key role in mobilizing young people, authorities are
03:39 also taking their crackdown online with widespread internet blackouts.
03:44 We got some problems with the internet, the internet blackout, filtering of the social
03:49 platforms imposed by the Iranian authorities. I can confirm that for us as journalists to
03:55 receiving and verifying the trusted information is a very, very difficult duty right now and
04:04 we are struggling.
04:05 And that means it is hard to say whether these protests will be able to achieve their ultimate
04:10 aims. From what can be verified, many believe that this uprising could pose one of the most
04:15 serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since it came to be just over four decades
04:20 ago. And that has prompted a response from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has once again
04:25 accused external powers of stoking the unrest.
04:29 To call them agents of Israel and America was a very tired rationale that Iran's supreme
04:36 leader has used to justify his brutal rules. So many people thought it's really the last
04:41 words of a dictator who refuses to acknowledge reality.
04:47 And what about the response from the West? The EU has sanctioned Iran's morality police
04:51 saying that it was responsible for the death of Masah Amani, as well as the Iranian law
04:56 enforcement forces over the subsequent crackdown on protesters and a key official who coordinated
05:02 the internet shutdown. Iran promptly responded with the announcement of levies against 20
05:07 foreign-based institutions and individuals. Levies the bloc has dismissed as politically
05:13 motivated. And Iranians are calling for the international pressure to be maintained, a
05:19 call that the United Nations seems to be heeding.
05:21 In the absence of any domestic channels of accountability, continuing absence of domestic
05:28 channels of accountability, I would say and I would stress once again that the international
05:33 community has a responsibility, I therefore have called for the prompt establishment of
05:40 an independent investigative mechanism in all human rights violations leading up to
05:45 and since the death of Gina Masah Amani.
05:49 But is that enough?
05:51 The tech community, businesses in IT can certainly help when it comes to ass-waging, so to say,
06:00 the internet shutdown and the cut in mobile communications that is taking place in Iran.
06:06 But also governments should not only go through the processes of UN resolutions, having a
06:13 resolution that mandates a kind of investigation into what is actually going on, which would
06:21 put Iran under pressure, but it can also help directly people who are there on the ground,
06:28 maybe who have to flee, they should be receiving asylum, political asylum in countries that
06:34 want to support this.
06:36 For those still in the country though, the message is clear, whether this uprising succeeds
06:42 or fails, the regime will likely face more challenges like this one.
06:47 Each generation has their own request, their desire, so if the authorities want to keep
06:55 alive their system, they need to listen to their people.
07:02 This is the first basic rule.
07:06 They had more than four decades to improve the situation, especially for the women's
07:10 rights and the young generation.
07:13 You know, Iran is a very, very young country.
07:18 More than 60% of this population are less than 30, but look at the protests.
07:25 According to the official figures, more than 40% of the people who have been arrested are
07:32 less than 20.
07:33 If the Iranian official wants to do something, it's today.
07:40 Tomorrow is too late.