By NCRI-US Staff – November 15, 2024
Since its inception, Iran’s fundamentalist regime has targeted women through institutionalized misogyny and oppression. The regime’s current President Masoud Pezeshkian has not only continued, but has intensified harsh measures to maintain the regime’s projected authority. These barbaric acts stem from increased domestic dissent. However, the Iranian people, notably led by women, have demonstrated their resilience in protesting the regime. Courageous women continue to pave the path to resistance.
A Behind the Iran Headlines (BIH) episode in May mentions how Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old protestor in the 2022 Iran Uprising, was arrested, sexually assaulted, and murdered by four agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The regime claimed her death was a suicide, sparking a new wave amidst the 2022 uprising.
On November 10th, Kurdish female political prisoner Varisha Moradi was issued a death sentence on false charges of armed insurgency. Her sentencing comes amid a rising rate of executions in 2024. During Pezeshkian’s rule, nearly 500 civilians have been executed, including 16 women. In response to Varisha Moradi’s sentence, female political prisoners organized a protest, chanting phrases such as “Death to the dictator” and “Freedom, Freedom, Freedom.”
Iranian political prisoner Maryam Akbari, who was imprisoned for filing a complaint against the judiciary who murdered her sister and three brothers, completed her 15-year-sentence on October 11, 2024. Instead of releasing her, the regime added 3 years to her sentence, moving her into solitary confinement. Prof. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, outlines in his report, the regime’s goal is “coercing her into renouncing her pursuit of accountability.”
In August 2024, female political prisoners in Lakan Prison staged a protest after two female activists were taken in for interrogation by the regime’s Intelligence Department. The two prisoners have since not returned. This protest has expanded past the Lakan Prison: every Tuesday, prisoners across Iran hold demonstrations against regime-led executions.
Across the country, women remain at the heart of the resistance. Mr. Alireza Jafarzadeh, the Deputy Director of the NCRI-US, commended the efforts of women in the resistance during his TEDxFoggyBottom event: “The leadership of women in the Iranian Resistance required and represents a new revolution, which is rebelling against an ideology entrenched in misogyny.”
The problem lies in Tehran and so does the solution: the ongoing resistance with women at its forefront.