A crowd gathers in Trafalgar Square, central London, this afternoon in solidarity with the anti-government protests in Iran.
Hundreds of protesters marched from Marble Arch through central London and have set up a stage draped in pre-revolutionary Iranian flags next to Nelson’s Column.
Protests have escalated both inside and outside Iran since a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Masha Amini, died in police custody in Tehran in September 2022 after being arrested for allegedly violating strict hijab rules.
January 8, 2023 also marks the third anniversary of the downing of the civilian airliner Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps amid tensions between Iran and the United States.
Demonstrators shelter from the rain under pre-revolutionary Iranian flags changed in 1980
Masha Amini died in hospital in Tehran after being arrested by Iranian police for breaking hijab rules
Protesters wave flags of Iran used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in London
Protester demanding Reza Shah II for Iran, referring to the westernized Pahlavi dynasty
Two more men officially convicted of allegedly killing a paramilitary volunteer during a demonstration were executed by the Iranian regime on Friday.
Activists in Iran claim at least 517 people have been killed and over 19,200 arrested since the unrest began.
In recent weeks, Iran has ramped up resistance to a global protest movement that began with the death of Ms Amini in September 2022.
Despite reports that the “morality police” — or Guidance Patrols — had stopped patrolling and hijab enforcement in December 2022, police officials in Iran confirmed last week that the morality police would be enforcing a new hijab-wearing scheme.
As of March 2014 – the latest year for which data was available – patrols stopped nearly 3 million women for not wearing their hijab in accordance with regulations.
Protesters gather at Marble Arch in central London before marching towards Trafalgar Square
Demonstrators demonstrate in Perth on January 8, 2023 against the crackdown on women’s rights in Iran
Protests in Bonn yesterday on the third anniversary of the downing of flight PS752
Global protests have been sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, from Kurdistan, who was arrested by vice squads in Tehran for saying she was not wearing her hijab properly
Protesters gather at Marble Arch in central London before marching towards Trafalgar Square
Masha Amini fell into a coma after her arrest in Tehran and died in hospital on September 16, 2022.
Islamic Republic officials told the media that Amini suffered a heart attack when she was arrested by the “morality police” and denied reports that she had been beaten.
Iranian activists have urged women to remove their veils in public, risking arrest for defying the Islamic dress code.
Protesters in London today were seen waving the pre-revolutionary Iranian flag and calling for the Mashroote Constitution and Reza Shah II for Iran.
The Mashroote Constitution refers to the Persian Constitutional Revolution in English, a revolution in Iran between 1905 and 1911 that created a parliament in what was then Persia.
Reza Shah II refers to the son of Reza Shah Pahlavi, the westernized Iranian head of state between 1925 and 1979.
In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini deposed the Shah and declared Iran an Islamic Republic.
The first modern “morality police” units were developed in Saudi Arabia in 1926, and since then similar units tasked with enforcing dress codes and attending prayers have sprung up around the world.
Iran established its own “moral police” upon the arrival of the 1979 revolution to deal with what was considered inappropriate behavior after a period of secularization until the mid-20th century.
Protesters pose in mock gallows as they gather in central London, Sunday January 8, 2023
Demonstrators wave flags to mark the third anniversary of the downing of Ukraine’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) passenger plane shortly after it took off from Tehran
Demonstrators gathered on Münsterplatz in Bonn yesterday afternoon
The delivery of the signatures collected by the newspaper La Stampa to the Iranian embassy in Rome to protest the death sentences and violence against protesters in Iran