The 22-year-old died after a "re-education session" by the Iranian Moral Police

General strike in several Iranian cities after the murder of Mahsa Amini

photo_camera AFP/ ATTA KENARE - Iran has tightened dress codes for women since the current president, cleric Ebrahim Raisi, took power

Iranian media have announced the start of a general strike in several cities to protest against the brutal murder of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini. Amini was arrested by the Morality Police for not wearing the veil, a compulsory garment for all women in Iran. After several hours of detention and exposure to a "re-education session", Amini was taken to hospital, where she arrived without vital signs. The young woman, a native of Iranian Kurdistan, suffered a heart attack as a result of the beatings and torture she endured at the police station

This murder has deeply shocked Iranian society, especially women, who suffer severe oppression by the regime in Tehran. After several days of protests in different parts of the country, some localities have started a general strike, reports Iran International.  

So far, videos of strikes have been released in Sanandaj, Saqqaz, Baneh and Mariwan, cities in Iranian Kurdistan. Although strikes have also been reported in West Azerbaijan province, such as Urmia, Bukan and Piranshahr. Iran International adds that traders in Yavanrud and Kermanshah, in the west of the country, also joined the strike. 

In recent days, the Iranian authorities have threatened trade unions and businesses not to participate in the strike in protest at Amini's death. However, the Centre for Cooperation of the Parties of Iranian Kurdistan, as well as other parties and activists in the region, announced a one-day general strike. Demonstrations are also planned in central Tehran and at the Sharif University of Technology.

"Women, life and freedom" and "Death to the dictator!" are the slogans leading protests over Amini's death in various parts of Iran, which has tightened dress codes for women since the takeover of the current president, the cleric Ebrahim Raisi.

In fact, the authorities have recently considered using easy recognition to identify those who do not comply with the new Islamic headscarf regulations announced last August. This hijab and chastity law prohibits, for example, the publication of photos of unveiled women on the internet. As a result of this new strict regulation, the Moral Police have become more influential and increasingly violent.

What happened to Amini is not unusual. Iranian activists frequently show videos of women being arrested and forced into police vans, as happened to Sepideh Rashno, 28, last August. After being harassed on a bus for wearing "inappropriate clothing", Rashno was arrested and tortured by security forces. Rashno managed to withstand the beatings, but her punishment did not end there. After the "re-education session" the young Iranian woman was forced to confess her "crime" on state television

Iranian women, both at home and abroad, are calling for more visibility and support against what they see as a "gender apartheid regime", as activist Masih Alinejad points out on Twitter. In this sense, social media has become an important platform for hundreds of women to show their rejection of the Iranian government's misogynistic policies. Cutting their hair or burning the Islamic veil are some of the acts that women record and publish in protest at the brutal crime.

More in Society