Berliner Boersenzeitung - The bold tactics that have kept Iran protests going

EUR -
AED 4.293297
AFN 80.91457
ALL 97.787182
AMD 448.803483
ANG 2.092137
AOA 1072.008381
ARS 1473.86814
AUD 1.776114
AWG 2.107191
AZN 1.992006
BAM 1.954944
BBD 2.359867
BDT 142.117771
BGN 1.954944
BHD 0.440707
BIF 3482.375178
BMD 1.169038
BND 1.495545
BOB 8.093456
BRL 6.502078
BSD 1.168788
BTN 100.194128
BWP 15.604167
BYN 3.824825
BYR 22913.14706
BZD 2.347672
CAD 1.60129
CDF 3373.844424
CHF 0.930865
CLF 0.029161
CLP 1110.323824
CNY 8.380309
CNH 8.386416
COP 4691.84559
CRC 589.441902
CUC 1.169038
CUP 30.97951
CVE 110.21674
CZK 24.665189
DJF 208.128867
DKK 7.461795
DOP 70.379183
DZD 151.705573
EGP 57.855667
ERN 17.535572
ETB 161.021794
FJD 2.621276
FKP 0.865796
GBP 0.866082
GEL 3.16855
GGP 0.865796
GHS 12.154678
GIP 0.865796
GMD 83.590727
GNF 10140.559771
GTQ 8.978069
GYD 244.522931
HKD 9.177043
HNL 30.573613
HRK 7.533988
HTG 153.40283
HUF 399.5543
IDR 18972.787189
ILS 3.894359
IMP 0.865796
INR 100.333285
IQD 1531.029611
IRR 49231.122092
ISK 142.400984
JEP 0.865796
JMD 186.898163
JOD 0.828894
JPY 171.328427
KES 151.00388
KGS 102.232832
KHR 4685.948172
KMF 492.340851
KPW 1052.116012
KRW 1612.291055
KWD 0.357481
KYD 0.973974
KZT 610.66261
LAK 25187.970987
LBP 104720.046415
LKR 351.4761
LRD 234.337391
LSL 20.841074
LTL 3.451866
LVL 0.70714
LYD 6.314235
MAD 10.527091
MDL 19.787336
MGA 5177.732835
MKD 61.508068
MMK 2454.245682
MNT 4196.950222
MOP 9.450262
MRU 46.492642
MUR 53.144915
MVR 18.007558
MWK 2026.612611
MXN 21.79128
MYR 4.971339
MZN 74.772119
NAD 20.841074
NGN 1786.89858
NIO 43.011167
NOK 11.849024
NPR 160.310805
NZD 1.945964
OMR 0.4495
PAB 1.168788
PEN 4.144385
PGK 4.831884
PHP 66.037214
PKR 332.363469
PLN 4.253138
PYG 9058.033774
QAR 4.260834
RON 5.081579
RSD 117.098726
RUB 91.189371
RWF 1688.860502
SAR 4.384482
SBD 9.733981
SCR 16.480784
SDG 702.011685
SEK 11.179213
SGD 1.494854
SHP 0.91868
SLE 26.307644
SLL 24514.149043
SOS 667.907544
SRD 43.49699
STD 24196.728708
SVC 10.226522
SYP 15199.796755
SZL 20.847871
THB 37.929486
TJS 11.295954
TMT 4.103324
TND 3.419503
TOP 2.738009
TRY 46.965814
TTD 7.940523
TWD 34.1849
TZS 3029.973271
UAH 48.831018
UGX 4189.165697
USD 1.169038
UYU 47.259307
UZS 14766.534203
VES 133.584256
VND 30528.845862
VUV 139.77719
WST 3.204584
XAF 655.669903
XAG 0.030453
XAU 0.000348
XCD 3.159384
XDR 0.815443
XOF 655.669903
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.732293
ZAR 20.980552
ZMK 10522.750076
ZMW 27.056153
ZWL 376.429796
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

The bold tactics that have kept Iran protests going
The bold tactics that have kept Iran protests going / Photo: - - AFP/File

The bold tactics that have kept Iran protests going

Flashmob-style protests, images beamed onto tower blocks, water fountains dyed blood-red: young Iranians armed with little more than their phones have adopted a slew of tactics to give demonstrations over Mahsa Amini's death staying power.

Text size:

The protest movement is showing it can go the distance more than one month after it sprung up, in spite of a crackdown by the security forces that has cost at least 122 lives.

The protests erupted in response to the death of Amini, 22, after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code.

Women have led the charge, discarding and burning their headscarves, marching and chanting "Woman, life, freedom", actions copied around the world.

Despite internet curbs cutting access to popular apps like Instagram and WhatsApp, savvy youngsters have still managed to get out videos of their protests.

In a game of cat and mouse, drivers have honked horns in support of the protesters and blocked roads with cars to slow the security forces, footage has shown.

Streets have also been obstructed by toppled and burning dumpster bins, and in some cases overturned police cars.

The security forces have responded by taking to motorbikes to cut through traffic, and have been seen tearing off number plates to identify the drivers for arrest later.

Officers riding pillion are often seen firing on demonstrators with birdshot, teargas, or even paintballs to mark and eventually track them down.

- 'Disarming the repression machinery' -

Youths have in turn taken to wearing masks, switching their phones to "airplane mode" to avoid being located and packing extra clothes to replace those splattered with paint.

In a video shared on social media, protesters dismantled a surveillance camera high above a road in Sanandaj, a city in Amini's home province of Kurdistan.

Protesters have been seen staging more numerous but smaller, pop-up gatherings away from city squares typical for demonstrations.

"Compared to previous protests this new round is more decentralised, without a particular leadership and organisation and a particular demand like a policy change," said Omid Memarian, senior Iran analyst at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

"Instead this has been all about 'Death to the dictator' and that the Islamic republic should go. This is a major departure.

"It has disarmed the repression machinery that is trained to crack down on mass protests, student protests and the like," he told AFP.

Women have been filmed cutting their own hair at protests, a symbol of sorrow turned into a show of resistance with roots in Persian folklore.

Those too intimidated to take to the streets have found other, more discreet ways of contributing to the cause.

One form of protest emerged two weeks ago, with fountains in Tehran appearing to be filled with blood after an artist turned their waters red to reflect the lethal crackdown.

In the same vein, art students at a Tehran university shot a video showing their hands raised in the air and covered in red paint.

On the same day, activists from the Edalat-e Ali group hacked a state television live news broadcast, superimposing crosshairs and flames over an image of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Images shared online this week showed an effigy of a cleric hanging from a Tehran highway overpass.

In a video taken one night, Amini's face was projected onto the side of a residential tower block in Ekbatan Town, in Tehran, as protesters chanted slogans from the safety of windows or rooftops.

And in a video that appeared Wednesday, two bare-headed women standing in front of a sign that reads "Hugs for those who are sorrowful" are seen embracing passersby on a street in Ekbatan.

- 'Unstable equilibrium' -

Schoolgirls have even taken up the baton, turning their backs to the camera and removing their hijabs before raising their middle fingers at classroom portraits of Khamenei.

Independent researcher Mark Pyruz said his analysis of visual evidence on social media showed the highpoint of the protests was September 21, and that turnout decreased this month.

But "while experiencing peaks and troughs, there remains a level of sustainability not seen in previous protest periods," such as 2019 demonstrations sparked by a shock fuel price hike, he told AFP.

Henry Rome, an Iran specialist at the Washington Institute, said he expects the protests to carry on for some time.

"The more organised and coordinated they become, the greater the chance they can broaden their base of support and present a clear, near-term challenge to the system," he told AFP.

"But the state's security apparatus excels at disrupting precisely that type of organised opposition, with a well-honed toolkit of violence, arrests, internet disruptions and intimidation.

"So, for the time being, the state and the protesters are in an unstable equilibrium, with neither able to overcome the challenge posed by the other, which suggests that these current protests and violence could persist for an extended period."

(B.Hartmann--BBZ)