Protests have subsided in Iran, but clerics cannot yet proclaim victory
The regime has quelled the protests but Iranians are still seething
IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may be sighing with relief. After the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for not wearing a “proper” headscarf, the country saw daily protests, many led by women. Four months on, the cries of “Women, life, freedom” have all but petered out. University campuses, where demonstrations continued longest, resemble citadels, policed by security guards and cameras. Banners praising the Islamic Republic abound. And yet Iranians are still seething.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The rope tightens”
Middle East & Africa January 14th 2023
- After eight dismal years, Nigeria prepares to replace President Buhari
- Ethiopia’s war in Tigray has ended, but deep faultlines remain
- Kenya’s blood shortage and the kicking of an aid addiction
- Protests have subsided in Iran, but clerics cannot yet proclaim victory
- A century-old choice created one of the Gulf’s oddest geopolitical features
- The Arab world’s rulers have turned journalists into courtiers
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