Ayatollah Khomeini
112-518: On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran , Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol , the religious morality police of Iran's government , arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards. The Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that she had
224-527: A cerebral hemorrhage or stroke due to head injuries received after her arrest. Amini's death resulted in a series of protests described by CNN as more widespread than the protests in 2009 , 2017 , and 2019 , and by The New York Times as the largest Iranian protests since at least 2009. Some female demonstrators removed their hijab or publicly cut their hair as acts of protest. Iran Human Rights reported that by December 2022 at least 476 people had been killed by security forces attacking protests across
336-401: A "bitter incident" and said that his "heart was broken for the young girl". But, also said "this chaos was planned," referring to the protests. President Ebrahim Raisi said that the death of Mahsa Amini will be "pursued," calling it a "tragic incident," but said that "chaos is unacceptable". He further accused western countries of "double standards" regarding human rights, adding "What about all
448-535: A "shy, reserved resident" of her hometown who avoided politics, with Amini being reported as never being politically active as a teenager, and as not being an activist. According to those who knew her closely, Amini did not follow the news, did not have many friends and mostly socialized with her relatives. Amini's father is an employee in a government organization and her mother is a housewife. She attended Taleghani Girls' High School in Saqqez, graduating in 2018. Her mother,
560-493: A brain tumor that was extracted at the age of eight. By 21 September, the hospital had released preliminary CT scans. Government supporters stated the CT scans showed psychological stress caused by a previous brain operation; critics stated the scans showed physical beating and trauma. The Iranian government stated Amini had a brain operation at the age of five. Regarding various government claims, Mahsa Amini's father (Amjad Amini) told
672-535: A crisis and the dissolution of parliament . Ahmad Shah Qajar and his entourage decided to leave Tehran and move the capital to another place, sparking fears of rebellion in other cities. During the Battle of Robat Karim , Iranian forces led by Heydar Latifiyan prevented the Russians from taking Tehran, despite the latter winning the battle. This also allowed government functions to be moved to Qom and then to Isfahan, while
784-523: A foreign plot. The inscription on Amini's tombstone reads in Kurdish: Kurdish : ژینا گیان تۆ نامری. ناوت ئەبێتە ڕەمز romanized : Jîna gyan to namirî. Nawit ebête remz. "Beloved Žina [Mahsa], you will not die. Your name will become a code." Some sources use "rallying call" or "symbol" rather than "code" when translating the epitaph. According to Iran Human Rights , as of 8 October 2022 at least 185 people have been killed as
896-475: A heart attack at a police station, collapsed, and fell into a coma before being transferred to a hospital. However, eyewitnesses, including women who were detained with Amini, reported that she was severely beaten and that she died as a result of police brutality , which was denied by the Iranian authorities. The assertions of police brutality, in addition to leaked medical scans, led some observers to believe Amini had
1008-641: A housewife, was an active member of the Parents and Teachers Association for three years in Shahrak Elementary School, Hijab Secondary School and Taleghani High School. She had one younger brother, Kiarash (Ashkan). Amini's cousin, a left-wing political activist belonging to the Komala party and a Peshmerga fighter living in self-exile in Iraqi Kurdistan , was the first member of Amini's family to speak to
1120-465: A list of eight demands read. The list included the right of choice of dress; equal civil rights with men; no discrimination in political, social, and economic rights; and a guarantee of full security for women's legal rights and liberties. Government and Islamic leaders attempted to calm the protests. The Ayatollah's aides reacted to the protests by saying that he had merely called for the wearing of "modest dress". This statement by Mahmoud Taleghani from
1232-497: A mandatory dress code for women, in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic standards, a short time after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. On 7 March, less than a month after the revolution, recently named Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini decreed the hijab (Islamic headscarf) to be mandatory for all women in their workplaces. He further decreed that women would no longer be allowed to enter any government office without
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#17328454993091344-401: A member of the lower class. Veiled women were assumed to be from conservative religious families, with limited education, while unveiled women were assumed to be from the educated and professional upper- or middle class. During the revolution of the late 1970s, hijab became a political symbol. Hijab was considered by conservative traditionalists as a sign of virtue, and, thus, unveiled women as
1456-404: A minor neurological condition (possibly a brain tumor) at the age of eight, but said it had been under control through levothyroxine (a medication to treat hypothyroidism ), and that her doctors had recently given her the all-clear. Citing medical specialists they had consulted, the family stated the condition was unrelated to Amini's death. A 7 October coroner's report stated that Amini's death
1568-465: A photo of Amini's father and grandmother crying and embracing in the hospital hallway. Amini died in the intensive care unit later that day. According to the BBC, eyewitnesses said Amini was beaten by police shortly after her arrest, while in the police van. By 17 September, Iranian police were denying the allegations of beating, and were claiming she had "suffered a sudden heart failure". The clinic where Amini
1680-507: A report from one her two cousins present at Amini's arrest, stating that Amini had been forced into the arrest vehicle by the morality police. In a report released on 8 March 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Council concluded that Amini's death was caused by physical violence she suffered while in morality police custody. The report found Iran responsible for her death and claimed the government had attempted to hide
1792-887: A result of the government's intervention in the protests, involving tear gas and live rounds, making the protests the deadliest since the 2019–2020 protests that resulted in more than 1,500 fatalities. The government's response to the protests has largely been condemned, and the United States Department of the Treasury has sanctioned the Guidance Patrol and several high-ranking Iranian officials. On 17 September, hours after Amini died, demonstrators gathered outside Kasra Hospital in Tehran, where Amini had been treated. Human rights groups reported that security forces deployed pepper spray against protesters and that several were arrested. Then
1904-542: A series of protests broke out over Amini's death, including in Saqqez, her hometown. Some shouted "death to the dictator", and Kurdish feminist slogans such as " woman, life, freedom ". A spokesperson for Hengaw , a Kurdish human rights group, stated that "the security institutions forced the Amini family to hold the funeral without any ceremony to prevent tensions." Amini's beating and death caused widespread anger among several social networks. The hashtag #MahsaAmini became one of
2016-425: A substantial urban structure as a blessing, because it minimized the chances of resistance to his rule by the notables and by the general public. Moreover, he had to remain within close reach of Azerbaijan and Iran's integral northern and southern Caucasian territories —at that time not yet irrevocably lost per the treaties of Golestan and Turkmenchay to the neighboring Russian Empire —which would follow in
2128-491: A veil, or we will punch your head" and "Death to the unveiled". In 1978-1979, in the dawn of the Islamic Revolution , the anti-Shah front consisted of a very broad group of liberals, religious nationalists, militant Islamists, Marxists-Leninists, bazaaris , and striking oil workers. Yet it was Ayatollah Khomeini , a Shia cleric, who quickly established himself as the revolution's major leader. In his goal to overthrow
2240-412: A woman, who they identified as Amini, talking with an official. In the footage, the official grabs Amini's clothing, and Amini holds her head with her hands and collapses. Amini's father dismissed the footage as an "edited version" of events. Amini's brother noticed bruises on her head and legs. The women who were detained with Amini said she had been severely beaten for resisting the insults and curses of
2352-743: A women's march took place in Tehran in Iran . The march was originally intended to celebrate the International Women's Day, but transformed into massive protests against the changes taking place in women's rights during the Iranian revolution , specifically the introduction of mandatory hijab (veiling), which had been announced the day before. The protests lasted for six days, from 8 March to 14 March 1979, with thousands of women participating. The protests were met with violence and intimidation by pro-Khomeini Islamist forces. The clerical-led Islamist faction at
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#17328454993092464-497: Is an absence of freedom". Protesters said that many Muslim activists regarded unveiled women as "unclean", since they had taken the Ayatollah's remarks literally. One protester said: Militiamen were reportedly restrained, but guns were fired in the air when the women and their counter-protestors appear to be near collision. Male supporters formed human chains on both sides of the women protesters marchers to shield them. However,
2576-664: Is home to diverse ethnic and linguistic groups from all over the country. The present-day dominant language of Tehran is the Tehrani variety of the Persian language , and the majority of people in Tehran identify themselves as Persians . However, before, the native language of the Tehran–Ray region was not Persian, which is linguistically Southwest Iranian and originates in Fars , but a now extinct Northwestern Iranian language . Iranian Azeris form
2688-611: Is home to many historical sites, including the royal complexes of Golestan , Sa'dabad , and Niavaran , where the last two dynasties of the former Imperial State of Iran were seated. Tehran's landmarks include the Azadi Tower , a memorial built under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1971 to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian Empire , the Milad Tower ,
2800-565: The Alborz mountains. In English, it is also spelt " Teheran ", with both variants being used in books since at least 1800, and "Teheran" being the dominant form from after WWII until shortly before the Islamic Revolution. Archaeological remains from the ancient city of Ray suggest that settlement in Tehran dates back over 6,000 years. Tehran is in the historical Media region of ( Old Persian : 𐎶𐎠𐎭 Māda ) in northwestern Iran. By
2912-525: The Caucasus , then separated from Iran in the Russo-Iranian Wars , to avoid the vying factions of the previously ruling Iranian dynasties. The capital has been moved several times throughout history, however, and Tehran became the 32nd capital of Persia . Large-scale construction works began in the 1920s, and Tehran became a destination for mass migrations from all over Iran since the 20th century. Tehran
3024-658: The Global Destinations Cities Index in 2016, Tehran is among the top ten fastest growing destinations . In 2016, the Tehran City Council declared 6 October to be Tehran Day, celebrating the date in 1907 when the city officially became the capital of Iran. Various theories on the origin of the name Tehran have been put forward. Iranian linguist Ahmad Kasravi , in an article "Shemiran-Tehran", suggested that Tehran and Kehran mean "the warm place", and "Shemiran" means "the cool place". He listed cities with
3136-532: The Golestan Palace , Tekye Dowlat , and Tupkhane Square , were replaced with modern buildings influenced by classical Iranian architecture, particularly the buildings of the National Bank , the police headquarters, the telegraph office, and the military academy. Changes to the urban fabric began with the street-widening act of 1933, which served as a framework for changes in all other cities. The Grand Bazaar
3248-606: The Mongol invasion . In the 13th century, the Mongols invaded Rhages, laid the city to ruins, and massacred many of its inhabitants. Others escaped to Tehran. In July 1404, Castilian ambassador Ruy González de Clavijo visited Tehran on a journey to Samarkand , the capital of Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur , the ruler of Iran at the time. He described it in his diary as an unwalled region. Italian traveler Pietro della Valle passed through Tehran overnight in 1618, and in his memoirs called
3360-454: The University of Tehran , in many districts of Tehran across various socio-economic classes in proportion to population sizes of each district and socio-economic class, 63% of the people were born in Tehran, 98% knew Persian, 75% identified themselves as ethnic Persian, and 13% had some degree of proficiency in a European language. Tehran saw a drastic change in its ethnic-social composition in
3472-498: The moral security officers to arrest her and beat her. This also caused people, especially women and girls, to join her and put away their hijab. Amini had come to Tehran to visit her brother and on 13 September 2022 was arrested by the Guidance Patrol at the entry of the Shahid Haghani Expressway in Tehran while in the company of her family. She was then transferred to the custody of Moral Security . Her brother, who
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3584-463: The 2010s and 2020s, clothing in Iranian society underwent significant changes, and young women in particular have started to be more liberal about hijab rules. This has prompted the Guidance Patrol , Iran's morality police , to launch intermittent campaigns to verbally admonish or violently arrest and "re-educate" women they considered to be wearing the hijab incorrectly. Under routine circumstances,
3696-1345: The 22 municipal districts, 20 are located in Tehran County 's Central District , while districts 1 and 20 are respectively located in the counties of Shemiranat and Ray . North : District 1: • Farmaniyeh • Evin • Darakeh • Zaferaniyeh • Mahmoodiyeh • Velenjak • Darband • Golabdarreh • Jamaran • Dezashib • Niavaran • Darabad • Tajrish • Gheytariyeh • Chizar • Ozgol • Aghdasiyeh • Elahieh • Jamshidiyeh • Saadabad • Kamraniyeh District 2: • Farahzad • Shahrara • Gisha • Punak-e Bahtari • Saadat Abad • Sadeghieh • Shahrak-e Gharb • Tarasht • Tohid District 3: • Darus • Davoodiyeh • Ekhtiariyeh • Golhak • Vanak • Jordan District 5: • Bolvar-e Ferdowsi • Jannat Abad • Ekbatan • Punak District 6: • Amir Abad • Arjantin • Yousef Abad • Park-e Laleh International Women%27s Day Protests in Tehran, 1979 On International Women's Day on March 8, 1979,
3808-417: The BBC around 22 September that "they are lying... She never had any medical conditions, she never had surgery." (Two classmates, interviewed by the BBC, said that they weren't aware of Mahsa ever being in hospital.) Amjad said he had not been allowed to view his daughter's autopsy report. He denied that Mahsa had been in bad health. "I asked them to show me the body-cameras of the security officers, they told me
3920-513: The Iranian government implemented regional shutdowns of Internet access . As protests grew, a widespread Internet blackout was imposed along with nationwide restrictions on social media. In response to the protests, people held demonstrations in support of the government across several cities in Iran, in an attempt to counter the protests. The Iranian government has referred to these counter-protests as "spontaneous". The pro-government protesters called for
4032-494: The Iranian government that Amini was involved in any politics. Instead, Amini has been described as having been a "shy, reserved resident" of her hometown who avoided politics, was never politically active as a teenager, and was not an activist. Amini's family have described her as having no prior health conditions, and as being a healthy 22-year-old, contrasting the claims made by the Iranian government that she possessed prior health conditions. Amini has been described as having been
4144-474: The Iranian revolution, many secular non-conservative women belonging to the opposition had worn the veil, since it had become a symbol of opposition against the Pahlavi regime. During the mass protests leading to the revolution, women participating in the protests often wore the veil, and women who appeared unveiled were often harassed by fundamentalist revolutionaries. Two slogans of the 1979 revolution were: "Wear
4256-459: The Iraqi air offensives on the capital. With most major powers backing Iraq at the time, economic isolation gave yet more reason for many inhabitants to leave the city (and the country). Having left all they had and having struggled to adapt to a new country and build a life, most of them never came back when the war was over. During the war, Tehran also received a great number of migrants from the west and
4368-422: The Islamic Republic. Protests against mandatory hijab rules continued, such as during the 2019–2020 protests , when protesters attacked a Guidance Patrol van and freed two detained women. In 2020, two representatives of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei separately said that improperly veiled women should be made to feel "unsafe". The representatives later backtracked and said that their comments were misunderstood. Among
4480-662: The Legal Medical Organization of the Irans judiciary reasoned Amini had died due to underlying disease stemming from brain surgery she had at the age of eight. An ongoing series of protests and civil unrest against the government of Iran began in Tehran on 16 September 2022 as a reaction to the death of Amini that day following police custody, after she was arrested by the Guidance Patrol for wearing an "improper" hijab —in violation of Iran's mandatory hijab law —while visiting Tehran from Saqqez. According to eyewitnesses, Amini
4592-522: The Solidarity Committee or CIDF), chaired by Simone de Beauvoir . The protests were attended by the American feminist Kate Millett , who had been invited to attend by student activists. Millett said: A 12-minute documentary about the protests was made by the militant French feminist group, Psychoanalysis and Politics, who attended the march while documenting what they saw. The documentary remains
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4704-510: The ancient history of Iranian languages such as "Tirgan" theory and "Tahran" theory folk etymology . Another theory is that "Tehran" derives from Tiran/Tirgan, "the abode of Tir ", the Zoroastrian equivalent of Hermes . The ancient Parthian town of Tiran had a neighbour, Mehran ("abode of Mehr/Mithra", the Zoroastrian sun/justice angel). Both of these were mere villages in the suburbs of
4816-450: The anti-government protesters to be executed, and have referred to them as "Israel's soldiers", whilst shouting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", reflecting Iran's clerical rulers' usual narrative of putting the blame of the unrest on foreign countries. On 3 October, in his first statement since the outbreak of the protests, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the widespread unrest as "riots", and likewise tried to cast it as
4928-515: The arresting officers. Published hospital pictures show Mahsa Amini bleeding from the ear and with bruises under her eyes. In an 18 September letter, Doctor Hossein Karampour (the top medical official in Hormozgan province), pointed out that such symptoms "do not match the reasons given by some authorities who declared the cause to be a heart attack... (they are instead consistent with) a head injury and
5040-540: The assistance of the UNHCR , but there are still sizable groups of Afghan and Iraqi refugees in Tehran who are reluctant to leave, being pessimistic about the situation in their own countries. Afghan refugees are mostly Dari -speaking Tajik and Hazara , speaking a variety of Persian, and Iraqi refugees are mainly Mesopotamian Arabic -speakers who are often of Iranian and Persian ethnic heritage. The majority of Tehranis are officially Twelver Shia Muslims , which has also been
5152-526: The authorities of lying about her death and noted that every time he was asked how he thinks she died, his response was mysteriously cut from local news broadcasts. He stressed that the authorities refused to let him see his daughter at the clinic, and that when he finally saw her body before the funeral, it was completely wrapped except for the face and feet, which had mysterious bruises. The well-known Iranian lawyer, Saeed Dehghan, described Amini's death as "murder". Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei called it
5264-419: The cameras were out of battery." Iranian authorities had charged that Mahsa was wearing immodest clothes when arrested; Amjad rejected this claim, stating that she always wore a long overcoat. Amjad said he was repeatedly prevented by medical staff from seeing his daughter's body after her death: "I wanted to see my daughter, but they wouldn't let me in", and charged that when he asked to see the autopsy report, he
5376-454: The capital of Iran in 1786. Agha Mohammad Khan's choice of his capital was based on a similar concern for the control of both northern and southern Iran. He was aware of the loyalties of the inhabitants of former capitals Isfahan and Shiraz to the Safavid and Zand dynasties respectively, and was wary of the power of the local notables in these cities. Thus, he probably viewed Tehran's lack of
5488-475: The chain were broken up on several occasions, and some protesters were attacked. The women protestors were attacked at the streets by mobs of counter-protestors with knives, stones, bricks, and broken glass. Both male bystanders as well as veiled women in chadors shouted epithets to the protesters. During one demonstration, 15,000 protesters took over the Palace of Justice for a three-hour sit-in. The protestors had
5600-478: The city Taheran . English traveler Thomas Herbert entered Tehran in 1627, and mentioned it as Tyroan . Herbert stated that the city had about 3,000 houses. In the early 18th century, Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty ordered a palace and a government office built in Tehran, possibly to declare the city his capital; but he later moved his government to Shiraz . Eventually, Qajar king Agha Mohammad Khan chose Tehran as
5712-486: The city as of 2018, and 16.8 million in the metropolitan area, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia , the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East after Cairo , and the 24th most populous metropolitan area in the world. Greater Tehran includes several municipalities, including, Karaj , Andisheh , Eslamshahr , Pakdasht , Qods , and Shahriar . In the classical antiquity , part of
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#17328454993095824-467: The city, from old to newly built centres, including mosques , churches , synagogues , and Zoroastrian fire temples . The city also has a very small third-generation Indian Sikh community with a local gurdwara that was visited by the Indian Prime Minister , Manmohan Singh in 2012. The metropolis of Tehran is divided into 22 municipal districts, each with its own administrative center. Of
5936-442: The country. Amnesty International reported that Iranian security forces had, in some cases, fired into groups with live ammunition and had in other cases killed protesters by beating them with batons. Amini's death ignited the global Woman, Life, Freedom movement , rooted in her Kurdish background, which demands the end of compulsory hijab laws and other forms of discrimination and oppression against women in Iran. Iran introduced
6048-676: The course of the 19th century. After 50 years of Qajar rule, the city still barely had more than 80,000 inhabitants. Up until the 1870s, Tehran consisted of a walled citadel, a roofed bazaar , and the three main neighborhoods of Udlajan , Chale-Meydan, and Sangelaj, where the majority resided. During the long reign of Naser al-Din Shah (1848-1896), Tehran witnessed Iran's first institute of higher learning , bank , railway line and museum. The city expanded rapidly through multiple development plans The first development plan of Tehran in 1855 emphasized traditional spatial structure. The second, under
6160-432: The detainees are brought to a center where they are re-instructed in the dress regulations, before being made to sign a pledge to uphold said regulations, and then being allowed to leave with their family. Protests against the compulsory hijab have been common since 1979. One of the largest protests took place between 8 and 14 March 1979, beginning on International Women's Day , a day after hijab rules were introduced by
6272-402: The domestic Mehrabad Airport , a central railway station , Tehran Metro , a bus rapid transit system, trolleybuses , and a large network of highways . Plans to relocate the capital from Tehran to another area due to air pollution and earthquakes have not been approved so far. A 2016 survey of 230 cities across the globe by Mercer ranked Tehran 203rd for quality of life . According to
6384-518: The early 1980s. After the political, social, and economic consequences of the 1979 Revolution and the years that followed, a number of Iranian citizens, mostly Tehranis, left Iran. The majority of Iranian emigrations have left for the United States , Germany , Sweden , and Canada . With the start of the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), the second wave of inhabitants fled the city, especially during
6496-571: The epics as the homeland of the protoplast Keyumars , the birthplace of King Manuchehr , the place where King Fereydun bound the dragon fiend Aždahāk (Bivarasp), and the place where Arash shot his arrow. In 641, during the reign of the Sasanian Empire , Yazdgerd III issued his last appeal to the nation from Rhages, before fleeing to Khorasan. Rhages was dominated by the Parthian House of Mihran , and Siyavakhsh —the son of Mehran ,
6608-473: The face of Tehran and ambitious projects were planned for the following decades. To resolve the problem of social exclusion , the first comprehensive plan was approved in 1968. The consortium of Iranian architect Abd-ol-Aziz Farmanfarmaian and the American firm of Victor Gruen Associates identified the main problems blighting the city as high-density suburbs, air and water pollution, inefficient infrastructure, unemployment, and rural-urban migration. Eventually,
6720-479: The general population, an independent survey conducted in the same year showed that 58% of Iranians did not believe in hijab altogether, and 72% were against compulsory hijab rules. Only 15% insisted on the legal obligation to wear it in public. Mahsa Amini was born on 21 September 1999 to a Kurdish family in Saqqez , Kurdistan Province, in northwestern Iran. While Mahsa was her official Persian given name, her Kurdish name
6832-479: The government, assuring the public that the hijab would not be enforced, only encouraged, resulted in calming the protests. The protests were given some solidarity from feminists abroad. Feminists from Germany, France, Egypt, and a number of other countries united to form a Solidarity Committee (CIDF). A delegation of solidarity was sent by the International Committee for Women's Rights (another name for
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#17328454993096944-514: The great city of Ray/Rhages. Mehran still exists as a residential district in Greater Tehran, as well as Ray, which forms the southern suburbs of Tehran. The official City of Tehran website says that "Tehran" comes from the Persian words "Tah" meaning "end", or "bottom", and "Ran" meaning "[mountain] slope"—literally, the bottom of the mountain (ته کوه), referring to Tehran's position at the foot of
7056-422: The head of Iran's Medical Council of assisting in a government cover-up of the cause of Mahsa Amini's death. In an 8 December article, Der Spiegel confirmed with Amini's grandfather that Amini had a brain tumor removed when she was an elementary school student. Amini's grandfather emphasized that the tumor was benign, and stated that she never had any health problems since the operation. Der Spiegel also relayed
7168-480: The hijab, as they would be "naked" without it. Khomeini said that they do not have to wear a full-body cover. He said that women can choose any kind of attire they like so long as it covers them properly and they have a hijab. His successor Ali Khamenei claimed that the hijab does not prevent social, political, or academic activities at all. Violence and harassment against women not wearing the hijab in accordance with Iranian government standards had been reported after
7280-457: The ideological spectrum". Veiling had been abolished in the Kashf-e hijab of 1936 during the reign of Reza Shah , and for a period of five years, veiling had been banned. From 1941 onward, under Reza Shah's son and successor Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , women had been free to dress as they wished. However, under his regime, the chador was considered a badge of backwardness, and an indicator of being
7392-601: The interest that Arabian Baghdad displayed in Rhages, the number of Arabs in the city remained insignificant and the population mainly consisted of Iranians of all classes. The Oghuz Turks invaded Rhages in 1035, and again in 1042, but the city was recovered under the Seljuks and the Khwarezmians . Medieval writer Najm od Din Razi declared the population of Rhages about 500,000 before
7504-410: The majority were middle-class and educated. The women chanted protests against the attempts to limit their rights, such as, "We didn't have a revolution to go backwards". One protestor recalled, "There was no question in our mind that this is the first step to suppress us, and we should stand up to it – both as women [and] as revolutionaries." Another slogan chanted was, "In the dawn of freedom, there
7616-463: The media after her death. Amini's uncle Safa was arrested a few days before her death anniversary. For Mahsa Jina Amini, as can be seen from her photos and videos on social media, only the mandatory rules made her wear hijab half-heartedly. She did not observe the hijab in various events such as weddings and wore traditional Kurdish clothes that do not have a hijab. She also partially observed hijab when traveling to tourist areas. This issue caused
7728-513: The monarchy remained in Tehran. After World War I , the constituent assembly elected Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty as the new monarch, who immediately suspended the Baladie law of 1907, replacing the decentralized and autonomous city councils with centralist approaches to governance and planning. From the 1920s to the 1930s, under the rule of Reza Shah, the city was essentially rebuilt from scratch. Several old buildings, including parts of
7840-479: The most repeated hashtags on Persian Twitter. The number of tweets and retweets of these hashtags have exceeded 80 million. Some Iranian women posted videos on social media of themselves cutting their hair in protest. It was reported on 21 September that the Iranian government had blocked internet access to Instagram and WhatsApp and disrupted internet service in Kurdistan and other parts of Iran in an attempt to silence
7952-561: The only existing film of those events. The protests resulted in a temporary retraction of the decree of mandatory veiling. When the left and the liberals were eliminated by June 1981, and the conservatives secured solitary control, however, veiling was enforced on all women. This began with the "Islamification of offices" in July 1980, when unveiled women were refused entry to government offices and public buildings, and banned from appearing unveiled at their work place, under risk of being fired. On
8064-492: The opposite. Unveiled women came to be seen by some of the opposition as a symbol of Western culture colonialism, Westoxication ; as a propagator of "corrupt Western culture", undermining the traditionalist conception of "morals of society"; and as overly dressed up "bourgeois dolls", who had lost their honor. The hijab was considered by the Pahlavis as a rejection of their modernization policy, and, thereby, of their rule, and during
8176-578: The parliament passed a law on local governance known as the Baladie ( municipal law ), providing a detailed outline of issues such as the role of councils within the city, the members' qualifications, the election process, and the requirements to be entitled to vote. The then-Qajar monarch Mohammad Ali Shah abolished the constitution and bombarded the parliament with the help of the Russian-controlled Cossack Brigade on June 23, 1908. That
8288-441: The people killed by American police? Did all these deaths get investigated?". On 17 September, Iranian Grand Ayatollah Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani described the Guidance Patrol as "not only an illegal and anti-Islamic body, but also illogical." He said it was unsupported by Iran's laws and engaged in "repression and immoral acts". In October 2022, Amini's family complained about receiving death threats to warn them against attending
8400-525: The planning organization of Iran in 1948 resulted in the first socioeconomic development plan to cover from 1949 to 1955. These plans not only failed to slow the unbalanced growth of Tehran but with the 1962 land reforms that Reza Shah's son and successor Mohammad Reza Shah named the White Revolution , Tehran's chaotic growth was further accentuated. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Tehran developed rapidly under Mohammad Reza Shah. Modern buildings altered
8512-418: The protests. Tehran Tehran ( / t ɛəˈr æ n , - ˈ r ɑː n , ˌ t eɪ -/ ; Persian : تهران Persian pronunciation: [tehˈɾɒːn] Tehrân ) is the capital and largest city of Iran. In addition to serving as the capital of Tehran province , the city is the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District . With a population of around 9.4 million in
8624-549: The reason for Mahsa Amini's death was an injury to her skull and that the injury was the result of a severe beating. The Amini family's lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht , told the Etemad online news website that "respectable doctors" believe Mahsa was hit while in custody. Nikbakht also said the family wants a fact-finding committee to probe her death, and that police footage filmed after her arrest should be handed over. By 2 October, Amini's family had acknowledged that Amini had an operation for
8736-414: The resulting bleeding." This was also confirmed by alleged medical scans of her skull, leaked by hacktivists, showing bone fracture, hemorrhage, and brain edema. According to Iran International , the Iranian government was forging fake medical records for Amini, showing that she had a history of heart disease. On 20 September, Massoud Shirvani, a neurosurgeon, stated on state-owned television that Amini had
8848-417: The revolution, but since unveiled women were often harassed and put under pressure, many of them resorted to wear the veil to avoid harassment. On March 7, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini decreed mandatory veiling for all women in their workplace, and decreed that women were no longer to enter their workplace or a government office unveiled, which he termed as "naked": However, non-conservative women, who had worn
8960-511: The revolution, whether by law enforcement personnel or pro-government vigilantes. From 1980, women could not enter government or public buildings or attend their workplaces without a hijab. In 1983, mandatory hijab in public was introduced in the penal code, stating that "women who appear in public without religious hijab will be sentenced to whipping up to 74 lashes". In practice, however, a number of women, such as Saba Kord Afshari and Yasaman Aryani , were sentenced only to heavy prison terms. In
9072-428: The same base and suffix and studied the components of the word in ancient Iranian languages , and came to the conclusion that Tehran and Kehran meant the same thing in different Iranian language families, as the constant "t" and "k" are close to each other in such languages. He also provided evidence that cities named "Shemiran" were colder than those named "Tehran" or "Kehran". He considered other theories not considering
9184-486: The second-largest ethnic group of the city, comprising about 10-15% of the total population, while ethnic Mazanderanis are the third-largest, comprising about 5% of the total population. Tehran's other ethnic communities include Kurds , Armenians , Georgians , Bakhtyaris , Talysh , Baloch , Assyrians , Arabs , Jews , and Circassians . According to a 2010 census conducted by the Sociology Department of
9296-417: The shah, he actively encouraged women to join the cause, but, simultaneously, showed little to no indication that he wanted to introduce mandatory veiling, or even wished to abrogate specific women's rights in a post-revolutionary Iran. It was upon his return to Iran that his rhetoric and that of his political allies quickly shifted. There had been no formal law issued mandating the veil immediately following
9408-472: The son of Bahram Chobin —who resisted the seventh-century Muslim invasion of Iran . Because of this resistance, when the Arabs captured Rhages, they ordered the town destroyed and rebuilt anew by traitor aristocrat Farrukhzad . In the ninth century, Tehran was a well-known village, but less so than the city of Rhages, flourishing nearby. Rhages was described in detail by tenth-century Muslim geographers. Despite
9520-414: The southwest of the country bordering Iraq . The unstable situation and the war in neighbouring Afghanistan and Iraq prompted a rush of refugees into the country who arrived in millions, with Tehran being a magnet for many seeking work, who subsequently helped the city to recover from war wounds, working for a far lower pay than local construction workers. Many of these refugees are being repatriated with
9632-685: The state religion since the 16th-century Safavid conversion . Other religious communities in the city include followers of the Sunni and Mystic branches of Islam, various Christian denominations, Judaism , Zoroastrianism , and the Baháʼí Faith . In the 2016 "Tehran Survey", when residents of Tehran were asked about the importance of religion in their life, 53.5% considered it to be "very important / important", 31.1% to be "rather important", 10.5% to be "not very important" and 4.8% to be "not at all important." There are many religious centres scattered around
9744-484: The streets, unveiled women were attacked by revolutionaries. In July 1981, an edict of mandatory veiling in public was introduced, which was followed in 1983 by an Islamic Punishment Law introducing corporal punishment on unveiled women: "Women who appear in public without hijab will be sentenced to whipping up to 74 lashes." The law was enforced by members of the Islamic Revolution Committees patrolling
9856-522: The supervision of Dar ol Fonun in 1878, included new city walls, in the form of a perfect octagon with an area of 19 square kilometers, mimicking the Renaissance cities of Europe. Tehran was 19.79 square kilometers, and had expanded more than fourfold. Growing awareness of civil rights resulted in the Constitutional Revolution and the first constitution of Iran in 1906. On June 2, 1907,
9968-455: The territory of present-day Tehran was occupied by Rhages (now Ray ), a prominent Median city almost entirely destroyed in the medieval Arab , Turkic , and Mongol invasions. Modern Ray was absorbed into the metropolitan area of Greater Tehran. Tehran was first chosen as the capital of Iran by Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar dynasty in 1786, because of its proximity to Iran's territories in
10080-515: The time of the Median Empire , part of present-day Tehran was a suburb of the prominent Median city of Rhages ( Old Persian : 𐎼𐎥𐎠 Ragā ). In the Avesta 's Videvdat (i, 15), Rhages is mentioned as the 12th sacred place created by Ohrmazd . In Old Persian inscriptions, Rhages appears as a province ( Bistun 2, 10–18). From Rhages, Darius I sent reinforcements to his father Hystaspes , who
10192-462: The time, lacking the capacity and hegemony to marginalize rival political contenders, were forced into retreat following the protests as far as these goals were concerned. Shortly after however, the Islamist faction mobilised Islamist women to rally on behalf of the new political and social order that they wished to implement. By June 1981, the greater part of Iran's liberal and leftist political spectrum
10304-399: The truth and intimidate Amini's family rather than conduct an impartial investigation. In addition, the report found evidence of widespread human rights violations during Iran's response to protests in 2022 and 2023, with many amounting to crimes against humanity . President Ebrahim Raisi asked Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi to investigate the cause of her death thoroughly. In early October
10416-555: The unrest. As of 24 September, the hashtag #Mahsa_Amini and its equivalent in Persian broke the Twitter record with more than 80 million tweets. According to Professor Marc Owen Jones at Hamad Bin Khalifa University , of 108,000 accounts in a sample of online protestors, 13,000 were created in the month of September 2022, suggesting thousands of the accounts may be fake, presumably by pro- or anti-government manipulators. Amini's father
10528-480: The urban fabric. The new city map of Tehran in 1937 was heavily influenced by modernist planning patterns of zoning and gridiron networks. During World War II , Soviet and British troops entered the city. In 1943, Tehran was the site of the Tehran Conference , attended by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt , Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin , and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill . The establishment of
10640-460: The van, as witnessed by her co-detainees. After she arrived at the police station, she began to lose vision and fainted. It took 30 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, and an hour and a half for her to get to Kasra hospital. For two days, Amini was in a coma in Kasra Hospital in Tehran. On 16 September, journalist Niloofar Hamedi (later arrested) broke the story of her coma, posting to Twitter
10752-428: The veil as a symbol of opposition during the revolution, had not expected veiling to become mandatory, and when the mandatory veil decree became known, it was met with protests and opposition, particularly by liberal and leftist women. The veil decree was received by many as evidence that, despite having fought in the revolution, women were being relegated, as one protest leader expressed it, "back to dog status". There
10864-568: The whole plan was marginalized by the 1979 Revolution and the subsequent Iran–Iraq War . Tehran's most famous landmark, the Azadi Tower, was built by the order of the Shah in 1971. It was designed by Hossein Amanat , an architect whose design won a competition, combining elements of classical Sassanian architecture with post-classical Iranian architecture. Formerly known as the Shahyad Tower , it
10976-469: The world's sixth-tallest self-supporting tower , completed in 2007, another famous landmark in Tehran is the Tabiat Bridge , completed in 2014. Most of the population are Persian , with roughly 99% of them speaking the Persian language , alongside other ethnolinguistic groups in the city which became Persianized and assimilated. Tehran is served by Imam Khomeini International Airport , alongside
11088-414: Was "not caused by blows to the head and limbs" and instead linked her death to pre-existing medical conditions, ruling that she had died from multiple organ failure caused by cerebral hypoxia . The report stated Amini had had a brain tumor operation when she was eight. The report did not say whether Amini had suffered any injuries. In a 13 October letter, over 800 members of Iran's Medical Council accused
11200-746: Was Jina (also spelled Zhina), and this was the name her family used. In Persian Mahsa means "similar to the moon" and in Kurdish, Jina means "life" or "a life-giving person". Amini attended Hijab Secondary School, and in 2015, she would attend Taleghani High School to earn a diploma. She would be admitted to university in 2022. She aspired to become a doctor. At the time of her death, Amini had recently been admitted to university in Urmia , where she would have studied biology. Before starting university, she travelled to Tehran with her parents and 17-year-old brother, Ashkan, to visit relatives. Amini's father rejected claims by
11312-423: Was a fear among women that they were about to lose the civil rights gained under the Shah. On the morning of March 8, tens of thousands of women gathered outside the new Prime Minister's office in Tehran. A further 3,000 women went to protest in the religious city of Qom , which was the residence of Ayatollah Khomeini. The protestors appeared unveiled. The women who participated were from all backgrounds, although
11424-482: Was built to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the Imperial State of Iran . During the Iran–Iraq War in 1980 to 1988, Tehran was repeatedly targeted by airstrikes and Scud missile attacks. The 435-meter-high Milad Tower, one of the proposed development projects of pre-revolutionary Iran, was completed in 2007, and has become a famous landmark of Tehran. Tabiat Bridge, a 270-meter pedestrian overpass that
11536-418: Was designed by award-winning architect Leila Araghian , was completed in 2014. The city of Tehran had a population of 7,711,230 in 2,286,787 households at the time of the 2006 National Census. The following census in 2011 counted 8,154,051 people in 2,624,511 households. The 2016 census measured the population of the city as 8,693,706 people in 2,911,065 households. With its cosmopolitan atmosphere, Tehran
11648-449: Was destroyed by the pro-Khomeini faction. Then, in 1983, the Iranian parliament (Majles) approved of a law "punishing women who refused to comply with state-enforced veiling". Ever since, such laws that favour mandatory veiling have become a key point in "policing women's political activism and dissidence", and have given Iran's post-1979 leadership a convenient pretext to "harass, intimidate, assault, and imprison women activists from across
11760-440: Was divided in half and many historic buildings were demolished and replaced by wide straight avenues, and the traditional texture of the city was replaced with intersecting cruciform streets that created large roundabouts in major public spaces such as the bazaar. As an attempt to create a network for easy transportation within the city, the old citadel and city walls were demolished in 1937, replaced by wide streets cutting through
11872-424: Was followed by the capture of the city by the revolutionary forces of Ali-Qoli Khan (Sardar Asad II) and Mohammad Vali Khan (Sepahsalar e Tonekaboni) on July 13, 1909. As a result, the monarch was exiled and replaced by his son Ahmad , and the parliament was re-established. During the Persian campaign , Russian forces that were occupying the northwest of Iran marched around Qazvin and approached Tehran, caused
11984-413: Was interviewed by various international media about his daughter's death and answered the claims of Iranian government officials. In a phone call with him, the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, expressed regret over Amini's death. The governor of Kurdistan Province personally went to Amini's father's house and consoled him about the death of his daughter. In an interview with BBC Persian , the father accused
12096-591: Was putting down a rebellion in Parthia (Bistun 3, 1–10). Some Middle Persian texts give Rhages as the birthplace of Zoroaster , although modern historians generally place the birth of Zoroaster in Khorasan Province . Mount Damavand , the highest peak of Iran, which is located near Tehran, is an important location in Ferdowsi 's Šāhnāme , an Iranian epic poem based on the ancient legends of Iran . It appears in
12208-517: Was severely beaten by Guidance Patrol officers—an assertion denied by Iranian authorities. The protests began hours after Amini's death, starting at the hospital in Tehran where she was treated and quickly spreading to other parts of the country, first to Amini's hometown of Saqqez and other cities in the Kurdistan Province , including Sanandaj , Divandarreh , Baneh , and Bijar . In response to these demonstrations, beginning around 19 September
12320-505: Was told by the doctor: "I will write whatever I want and it has nothing to do with you." Amjad saw the body after it had been wrapped for the funeral, and noticed bruises on her feet, but could not see the rest of the body due to the wrapping. Iranian authorities denied any head injuries or internal injuries. According to Iran International, on 29 September an audio file was released by a former commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps , which reported unnamed "reliable sources" saying that
12432-400: Was treated released a statement on Instagram saying that she had already been brain dead when she had been admitted around 13 September. By 19 September, the post had been deleted. On 17 September, the police chief of Tehran stated that the grounds of Amini's arrest were wearing her headscarf improperly and for wearing tight pants. By 19 September, police had released CCTV footage showing
12544-402: Was with her when she was arrested, was told she would be taken to the detention center to undergo a "briefing class" and released an hour later. Her brother was later informed his sister had a heart attack and a brain seizure at the police station to which she had been taken. Two hours after her arrest, she was taken to Kasra Hospital. According to Amini's cousin, she was tortured and insulted in
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