We are watching a revolution take place in Iran

Editorial: In 1979, the Islamic Republic was the result of a righteous revolution, though hardly the democratic state many then dreamed of; now it could be overthrown by another uprising, one fuelled by the right kind of moral fervour among the young

Hundreds of protesters clap and cheer during a rally in Saqqez, Mahsa Amini’s hometown (UGC/AFP/Getty)

Some six weeks ago, a young Kurdish woman – 22-year-old Mahsa Amini – died in the custody of her country’s so-called morality police, a grotesque organisation dedicated to the oppression of women.

Ms Amini’s “crime” was to wear her hijab “improperly”. She was detained by the morality police for three days, during which time she fell into a coma after collapsing at the detention centre. The officers concerned stand accused of beating her with a baton and banging her head against a vehicle. Their version of events is that she suffered a heart attack.

There’s little chance of anything resembling an independent inquiry, and the increasingly angry people of Iran have drawn their own conclusions. They understand only too well what the theocratic regime is capable of.