Since the death of Masha Amini, arrested on September 13 by the morality police for not wearing her veil correctly, anger has taken hold in the streets of Tehran and throughout Iran. Several images and videos on social media show hundreds of people protesting against the Iranian authorities, including women burning their veils in protest.
Many images have become the symbols of this new Iranian revolution, such as that of Hadis Najafi, killed during a demonstration. On Wednesday September 21, the 20-year-old young woman was shot in the middle of the street by the police with six bullets to the head, neck and chest. In this video that went viral last weekend, filmed at night in Karaj [dans l’ouest de Téhéran], we see the young blond woman tying her hair before joining other demonstrators. Except that, according to the BBC, these images do not show Hadis Najafi, but another woman.
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On the video, the woman is from behind and does not allow her to be recognized. However, this symbol of resistance in the middle of the crowd was quickly attributed by the media and social networks to Hadis Najafi. Since her death, through these powerful images, the young girl has become the symbol of the courage and bravery of Iranian women who protest against the repression of the regime.
The problem is that this video does not represent Hadis Najafi. Near the Iranian branch of the BBC, a woman – who wished to remain anonymous – said it was her in the video, not Hadis Najafi. She also added to the channel that the purpose of recording this video was only to give young Iranian girls “the courage to take to the streets”. “I am not Hadis Najafi, but I will fight for all Mahsas and Hadises,” she added.
Many tributes
It would seem that the image was too quickly attributed to Hadis Najafi by all the media around the world. Sunday, 20 minutes in turn recounted the facts: “A video of the 20-year-old young woman, tying her hair before going to demonstrate, had gone viral online. It dates from last Thursday, just like its execution by the security forces of Iran a little later”. The virality of the video not helping, the media such as social networks have attached the image to the symbol.
Subsequently, many tributes were published through drawings or videos of the young woman from behind, heading straight for the crowd of demonstrators. However, this does not take away the message of what the 20-year-old Iranian girl represents, as the witness at the BBC’s microphone explains.
The women’s revolt
The current phenomenon is unprecedented in Iran, because it was mainly launched by young women, instinctively taking to the streets to express their anger – as if to affirm that the death of Masha Ramini was one too many. Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, women’s freedom has lost momentum in Iran. For example, the veil has been made compulsory in public places. “Each time in a bus, a female body brushes against a male body, a jolt shakes the edifice of our revolution”, justified Ayatollah Khomeini at the time.
Several decades later, in 2021, an election worsened their situation: that of the ultraconservative Ebrahim Raïssi in power. Several rights were then again prevented, access to contraception was tightened and abortion was almost banned. On the sidelines of the protests of recent days, this same Ebrahim Raïsi called for action “firmly” against the demonstrators, whom he accuses of undermining “the security and the country of the country and the people”.
According to the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), more than 75 people have been killed in Iran since the crackdown began. The organization, based in Norway, claims to have video evidence and death certificates that would attribute these deaths to “live ammunition”. Iranian authorities said on Monday that more than 1,200 protesters had been arrested over the past two weeks.