Middle East & Africa | The rope tightens

Protests have subsided in Iran, but clerics cannot yet proclaim victory

The regime has quelled the protests but Iranians are still seething

TEHRAN, IRAN - JANUARY 9: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY â MANDATORY CREDIT - "IRANIAN LEADER PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks on the Mahsa Amini protests during a meeting to mark the province uprising that took place on the 19th of Dey in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2023. (Photo by Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Image: Getty Images

IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, may be sighing with relief. After the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for not wearing a “proper” headscarf, the country saw daily protests, many led by women. Four months on, the cries of “Women, life, freedom” have all but petered out. University campuses, where demonstrations continued longest, resemble citadels, policed by security guards and cameras. Banners praising the Islamic Republic abound. And yet Iranians are still seething.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The rope tightens”

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