Iranian schoolgirls give the middle finger to the country's leaders as they remove their hijabs
Topics: Iran, World News, News
Rachel Lang
Featured Image Credit: NOELreports/Twitter. Shayan Sardarizadeh/Twitter.
Topics: Iran, World News, News
Schoolgirls in Iran are taking a stand in Iran.
Videos on social media are showing exactly what teens think of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the wake of Mahsa Amini's brutal slaying.
The images are stark and clear: a crisp middle finger.
Feminine fury continues to boil over in the strict Arab nation, more than two weeks after the death of 22-year-old Amini's death on September 16.
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In one video, girls chasing a man from their school campus.
Wow, something is radically changing in Iran. These women rising up together against regime 'men' wasn't thinkable some years ago. Here you see an Iranian official being expelled from a girls' school. Just before this, he was continuously scolded by the crowd during a speech. pic.twitter.com/zgtOjJlqea
— NOËL 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) October 5, 2022
The video was captioned with: "These women rising up together against regime 'men' wasn't thinkable some years ago. Here you see an Iranian official being expelled from a girls' school. Just before this, he was continuously scolded by the crowd during a speech."
Another video posted to Twitter showed the halls of another Irani school in pandemonium.
The tweet said: "Today in Iran schoolgirls removed their compulsory hijab and chanted 'death to the dictator' while stomping on the photos of their rulers."
A different clip showed teen girls heckling a member of Iran's feared paramilitary Basij force, waving their headscarves in the air while shouting 'get lost, Basiji' at the man addressing the crowd.
The man's failed attempt at a speech came as anti-government protests continue to sweep the nation and now are moving into the classroom.
Iran's Generation Z is leading an unprecedented social movement in the Middle East these days and the outside world barely seems to know about it.#MahsaAmini#مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/tNGiT551vG
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) October 3, 2022
The Basij has helped security forces crack down on the protests sparked by Amini's death.
Amini, 22, was arrested on September 13 for allegedly violating the country's strictly enforced dress code.
It has been obligatory for women to cover their heads since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, with morality police claiming Amini wore her headscarf – or hijab – too loosely.
Police claim she died of a heart attack, but activists and citizens across Iran claim the young woman was tortured and beaten to death by morality officials.
According to Norway-based activism group Iran Human Rights, 154 protesters, including nine children, have been killed by security forces during the nation's recent protests.
She was full of life
— Nafiseh Kohnavard (@nafisehkBBC) October 4, 2022
Her name is Nika Shakarami. She was only 17.
Nika joined #IranProtests on Sept 20. Ten days later her family was asked to go to Kahrizak prison to get her body. The authorities didn’t allow the family to have a funeral for her while arresting her aunt & uncle pic.twitter.com/oYcqVzcztZ
Teenager Nika Shakarami was one of those deaths, with security forces accused of covering up her death while protests continue on.
According to the BBC, security forces stole the 16-year-old's body from the morgue and buried her without her family's knowledge to prevent further public backlash.
Police claim the teen died after falling off a roof.
Nika's aunt Atash Shahkarami told the BBC that the teen was last heard from as she was being chased down by security forces in Tehran.