Something extraordinary is happening in Iran

Speaking out against Mahsa Amini’s death and the vast system that enabled it has become a matter of honour and pride, and even national identity, writes Borzou Daragahi

The reaction to Amini’s death was immediate and spread like wildfire (AFP via Getty Images)

One of the most poignant videos that emerged from Iran over the last nine days or so of political violence and fiery clashes between protesters and armed regime militiamen did not come from the streets of Tehran or Sanandaj – but from a prison in Saravan, in Iran’s remote southeast.

In the short clip, Salimullah Hossein-Bor, an ethnic Baluch activist and Iran-Iraq war veteran in prison on political charges, offers his support for the spontaneous nationwide outbreak of protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, also known by her Kurdish first name Jina.

The 22-year-old ethnic Kurdish woman mysteriously fell into a coma and died after she was detained by the morality police. At least 35 people have died in the unrest.