Protests in Iran

  Usually, when a protest is happening everyone is aware of it… at least in America. But where’s the news coverage when a fight for justice happens in a different country? The U.S. and Iran have no diplomatic relations whatsoever but does that mean Americans shouldn’t care about  what’s happening in the Middle East? 

  The death of a 22-year-old woman named Mahsa Amini on September 16 sparked chaos and unrest in Iran. Amini was arrested and taken into police custody by the “morality police”(the police that enforce moral laws in Iran) due to the fact that she hadn’t been wearing her hijab in public. While in the custody of police, Amini had been brutally beaten and died as a result of her injuries. The police claimed that Amini had died of a heart attack and neglected to touch on the abuse she received while in police custody. Because of this police brutality, Iranian women across the nation rioted and protested fighting for the justice of Amini and freedom from their oppressing government.

  Women aren’t given the same rights and freedoms that people here in the U.S. receive in the Iranian government. Because of the death of Amini, women are now burning their own head coverings and protesting their government. As a result of the police’s brute force against these protesters, many people are being killed. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, doesn’t approve of the protests and blames countries like the U.S. and Israel. Khamenei is so frustrated by the unrest in the country that Iran has blocked internet access denying his people help during these troubling times. 

  America already has a bad rep with Iran considering the fact that Khamenei blames us for starting the protest in the first place, but will America aid in the battle for the rights of these women or will we stand by and watch a country burn?