Saqqez no relation history of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Civil unrest and protests against the government of Iran associated with the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini (Persian: مهسا امینی) began on 16 September 2022 and are ongoing as of June 2023. Amini had been arrested by the Guidance Patrol for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory hijab law by wearing her hijab "improperly" while visiting Tehran from Saqqez. According to eyewitnesses, she had been severely beaten by Guidance Patrol officers, an assertion denied by Iranian authorities. As the protests spread from Amini's hometown of Saqqez to other cities in the Iranian Kurdistan and throughout Iran, the government responded with widespread Internet blackouts, nationwide restrictions on social media usage, tear gas and gunfire.Although the protests have not been as deadly as those in 2019 (when more than 1,500 were killed), they have been "nationwide, spread across social classes, universities, the streets [and] schools", and called the "biggest challenge" to the government of Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. At least 537 people, including 68 minors, had been killed as a result of the government's intervention in the protests, as of 4 April 2023.  An estimated 19,262 have been arrested throughout at least 134 cities and towns, and at 132 universities.Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the widespread unrest not only as "riots" but also as a “hybrid war" caused by foreign states and dissidents abroad. Women, including schoolchildren, have played a key role in the demonstrations. In addition to demands for increased rights for women, the protests have demanded the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, setting them apart from previous major protest movements in Iran, which have focused on election results or economic woes. 
The government's response to the protests has been widely condemned.Protests
Initial protests, mostly led by women, demanded an end to the mandatory hijab; these protests evolved into a national revolt. The protests became more widespread than those of 2009, 2017, and 2019, encompassing even Islamic Republic power bases such as the holy cities of Mashhad and Qom. Unlike some previous protests, the new protests involved both urban middle classes and rural working areas. In addition, schoolgirls demonstrated in numbers for the first time. While continuing to protest Amini's death and demanding an end to the mandatory hijab, Iranians also advocated for wider freedoms and women's rights, and protested against the morality police, the Ayatollah, and the theocratic regime.Unlike many previous Iranian protests, protesters appear to be demanding a wholesale change in government rather than limiting themselves to incremental reforms. In a November 2022 Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) poll, almost three-quarters of Iranians opposed mandatory hijab; of these anti-hijabis, 84% would prefer a secular Iranian state to theocracy, which GAMAAN characterized as an endorsement of regime change. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, economic hardship and poor living conditions contributed to the growth of the protests. The New York Times itemized Iranian grievances such as "soaring prices, high unemployment, corruption, (and) political repression", and identified the poor Iranian economy as a major force behind the protests; according to an Iranian report in August 2021, a third of Iranians live in poverty. Abdolreza Davari, a conservative analyst, has quoted a statistic that 95 percent of Iranians are "worried about their livelihoods today and for their and their children's future." Only 15% of Iranians in the job market are women. Iran ranked 143rd out of 146 countries in the 2022 WEF Gender Gap Report, due in part to prohibitions on female membership in powerful government organizations.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 referred to these counter-protests as "spontaneous". The pro-government protesters called for the anti-government protesters to be executed, and 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.Media coverage was constrained by Iranian restrictions on speech, including Internet shutdowns and arrests of journalists. NBC News retained a correspondent in Tehran. Most Western outlets obtained information from networks of contacts, human rights groups, and social media content. According to BBC News, an Iranian government disinformation campaign produced social media videos and fake interviews, and attempted to trick Western media into reporting falsehoods: "They can then say foreign media is reporting fake news".According to France 24, protests "had dwindled" across most of the country by March 2023.
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