They were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police and have been led by women burning headscarves and furiously demanding reform in the Islamic Republic of Iran. But the protests that have engulfed the nation for weeks are also attracting support from across society as they evolve into a sustained anti-government movement.
While women and girls continue to be the driving force behind the protests, male students, soccer stars and striking workers have added to this show of opposition. This sort of coalition will make it harder for state authorities to suppress in spite of a violent crackdown, experts say.
“These are not pockets of protests,” said Anoush Ehteshami, a professor in international relations at Durham University in England. “This time, around 80 towns and cities have been involved. And it’s so broad-based, and a lot of it is spontaneous.”
Students in the capital, Tehran, and other major cities refused to attend classes Saturday on what was meant to be the first day of the new university semester, according to verified accounts on social media and local reports.
Instead, male and female students were seen marching on campus grounds or gathered in crowds, with some heard chanting “Women, life, freedom,” in protests against the government and its violent crackdown on weeks of rallies triggered by the death of Amini last month, according to video posted on social media and reviewed by NBC News.
In footage shared by the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, a group of young Iranian girls are seen removing their hijabs while chanting anti-government slogans.
NBC News was unable to independently verify the video.
There were student-led protests in the cities of Tehran, Tabriz and Shiraz, according to video on social media. Also Saturday, shops and businesses were closed in 20 cities in strike action in Kurdistan province, in northwestern Iran, according to the human rights organization Hengaw.
Amini, 22, who was from the region, died Sept. 16 after falling into a coma following her detention by morality police in Tehran, who enforce the government’s strict dress codes for women.
Police deny allegations that Amini was beaten and insist that she died after suffering a heart attack. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-liner, has since ordered an investigation into her death and said he offered his condolences to her family. Her family denies that she had a pre-existing condition and says witnesses told them she had been beaten by police.
The government has blamed what it calls “foreign enemies” for stoking the unrest. On Monday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei broke his silence on the unrest and accused the United States and Israel of planning the protests.