© Sima Ghaffarzadeh

Iran

As women lead the fight against religious oppression and ethnic minority groups push for greater autonomy over their daily lives, the clerical regime is cracking down with widespread violence, poisonings, kidnappings, and deadly force.

Status: On the Brink
Your support helps HUMANITE continue to help friends and colleagues who are unjustly targeted and attacked by the clerical regime.
Iran

Crisis Briefing

Today’s violence in Iran began decades ago. Who you blame and where you start the story depends on where you sit. But none of this appeared out of nowhere. Regardless, Iranians today face acute and significant political and human rights challenges, as the country remains under the rule of a clerical regime that offers limited political freedoms and enforces strict censorship. After the murder of Mahsa Zhina Amini in 2022, women across the country have led the revolutionary charge and the fight against religious oppression, which has emboldened ethnic minority groups to similarly push for greater autonomy over their daily lives. But these activists and civilian protestors face harsh repression from the clerical regime, including arbitrary arrests, torture, disappearance, and murder. Freedom of expression and assembly are severely restricted. Our own friends and colleagues have endured some of the harshest and most public of detentions, torture, and discrediting campaigns. Inside Iran, activists, volunteers, and humanitarian groups must all operate discreetly due to the pervasive threats. Abroad, Iran engages in violence in other communities where HUMANITE lives and works, such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine.

How did this “revolution” start?

The protests in Iran began shortly after the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, on September 16, 2022. She had been arrested by morality police for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory Islamic dress code and died in their custody. Amini's death led to widespread outrage. Protests started at her funeral in Saqez, her hometown, and quickly spread across the country, with demonstrators challenging Iran's clerical rulers and demanding "Woman, life, freedom." As an ethnic minority Kurd, her death brought diverse ethnic minorities into the streets to protest for greater autonomy over their life and lands, as well, giving the revolutionary movement a broad base of depth and support.

What’s the revolution's goal?

Protestors have coalesced this time around one demand: overthrow the Islamic Republic. Protesters, particularly women and young people, have burned pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanted "Death to the Dictator." Women, including schoolgirls, have defiantly removed and burned their headscarves in protest against laws mandating head coverings and loose-fitting clothing. Protests have been especially intense in areas with ethnic minorities, such as Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast. After forty years, the message from the streets is clear: women, life, freedom.

What’s the status today?

The aftermath of the protests witnessed a heavy-handed response by security forces, who restricted access to the internet, messaging apps, and used tear gas, clubs, and live ammunition to quell demonstrations. Paramilitary militia played a prominent role in the crackdown, resulting in hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands arrested. Iran carried out seven executions linked to the unrest, though no official death toll was disclosed. Ultimately, the morality police returned to the streets, surveillance cameras were deployed to identify unveiled women, and businesses refusing to enforce the dress code faced temporary closures. Despite initial challenges, the ruling elite have maintained their grip on power so far, suppressing dissent through arrests, threats, and intimidation that continues to this day, over a year after protests initially broke out.

What impact have you had through all this?

One of our closest partners, Hengaw, probably sums it up best: “HUMANITE has been critical with access, supplies, doctors, & nurses to protect demonstrators across Iran." We’ve also invested in efforts to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Iran and put pressure on the Iranian government.

What’s your vision for the work in Iran?

Iran was the childhood home of one of our cofounders, Rawand Rasul, when his family was on the run from another dictator, Saddam Hussein. So we hold this place, its people, and their hospitality in special regard. The fight for freedom and human rights is not theirs alone. We aim to help sustain the network building, local training, and economic recovery that our friends and neighbours deserve. But our vision, ultimately, is an echo of the chant that reverberates from the streets: that Iranians of all stripes would have life, and have it abundantly.

Our Response

How to Help

When you give, you sustain HUMANITE's support of local peace efforts. 

Note: After the disappearance of a colleague, we do not publish details of our work here. To learn more, please reach out to our team:

Contact Us
Iran Protests © Sima Ghaffarzadeh
© Sima Ghaffarzadeh

About HUMANITE

In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Within a few years, terrorism and war defined the Middle East.

Our founders were raised and came of age in the troubles of war—Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria. When two moved from America to help, the group formed, learning to love their neighbours on the frontlines of the world’s most notorious wars.

Today, 20 years after they first began, HUMANITE carries on that legacy, closing the gaps that lead to violence and building the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.
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Needs & Numbers

This is the reality of daily life in Iran today, with renewed revolutionary energy and anti-revolutionary crackdowns after Mahsa Amini, 22, was arrested by “morality police” and died in custody for allegedly not complying with Islamic dress codes. In this pre-war state, there is much that can and should be done to avoid the outbreak of full-blown conflict.
500
+

killed by state forces

22,000
+

arrested, held, or tortured

150

journalists and lawyers arrested

1,000
s

of wounds treated underground to avoid abduction

Iran

In other words...

Victim of state violence in Islamic Republic of Iran.

“HUMANITE has been critical with access, supplies, doctors, & nurses to protect demonstrators across Iran."

Hengaw Logo

Hengaw

Iran 2023

Do you realize the difference you can make?

Yes! I want to work for peace!
I want to humanize everyone;
Alleviate suffering for refugees;
And build our future!

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