The veil lifted on a quiet rebellion on the streets of Tehran |
When the ABC's Karishma Vyas began her excellent series of reports from Tehran, giving us a rare glimpse of the war from the other side, I thought I was seeing things. Unimaginable things.
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There in the background, on the street and in markets, were women with their heads uncovered, defying the strict laws that became a deadly flashpoint in 2022 after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
Twenty-two year-old Mahsa had been arrested for not wearing her hijab correctly and taken to a detention facility for "re-education". She collapsed after 26 minutes and was taken to hospital, where she died. A United Nations investigation found her death was the result of beatings, which the Iranian regime denied, claiming the young woman died from a pre-existing medical condition.
No one can say for sure how many protesters died in the protests that followed Mahsa's death. Across Iran, women ripped off their hijabs and burnt them, while calling for the overthrow of the theocracy. Demonstrations in support of the rebellion were held across the world.
In Iran hundreds lost their lives, tens of thousands were arrested and several were executed in the violent crackdown, in which roving gangs of Basij militiamen, known as the regime's "iron fist", set upon demonstrators with practised brutality.
That's not to mention the staggering number of deaths during the more recent nationwide protests against the regime. Estimates range from the official 3000 up to 36,000 but verification is impossible because of the information blackout enforced by Tehran.
Yet despite that grim toll, the resistance was there in plain sight in Vyas's reports. Defiance in the face of stiffer penalties and the rollout across Tehran of a surveillance system which can even detect hijabless drivers in cars and issue fines just like our phone camera detection systems. Defiance in spite of an app which enables users to report violations of the dress code. Defiance during wartime, which is even more extraordinary, given the regime's often lethal paranoia.
It's not just the odd individual taking a stance. In Tehran, it's estimated that 20 per cent of women now venture out with their heads uncovered. Some boycott businesses which insist........