Introduction

On September 16th, a 22-year-old Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini died in Tehran after being arrested for failing to observe the Islamic dress code. Many Iranians suspected that Amini was fatally wounded by Iranian police during her detention, and the news of her death sparked mass protests against the country's mandatory hijab law as well as against the Islamic Republic in general. We invited our friend Séamus Malekafzali, an independent journalist who specializes in the politics of the region, to discuss the ongoing protests and their implications.