On the eve of the November 2019 uprising anniversary, Iran’s regime has again demonstrated its ruthless enforcement of the compulsory hijab law, resulting in the tragic death of 17-year-old Armita Geravand. Geravand succumbed to a brain injury on October 28, inflicted by a “hijab-ban” officer in a Tehran subway on October 1.
She lay in a coma under stringent security and censorship until her death, her pale, innocent face becoming a symbol of the relentless oppression faced by Iranian youth, particularly girls, under the mullahs’ rule.
Armita’s death echoes a familiar, tragic story in Iran – one of systemic violence against women and girls under the guise of enforcing hijab laws. The same brutal hands that struck Armita were responsible for the fatal blow to Gina (Mahsa) Amini and the deaths of many other young women, including Nika Shakarami, Ghazaleh Chalabi, and Neda Agha Soltan.
These are not isolated incidents but a pattern of ongoing aggression against Iranian women, tracing back to the thousands of PMOI (People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK)) girls executed in the summer of 1988 and the post-June 20, 1981, crackdowns.These included barring journalists from the scene, fabricating news to exonerate the regime, pressuring Armita’s family to attribute the incident to “low blood pressure,” and controlling the accident’s narrative through edited CCTV footage.
To smother the potential of social unrest reminiscent of the 2022 uprising, the regime under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei undertook extensive measures to manipulate the narrative around Armita’s death.
Furthermore, the regime sought to mislead international and human rights bodies, coerced Armita’s classmates into supporting their story, kept her under strict watch in a military hospital, manipulated news around her brain death, and even used global events like the war in Gaza to distract from their atrocities. Notably, they barred her family from burying her in her hometown, illustrating the extent of their control and fear of public dissent.
Despite these efforts, the Iranian regime’s misogynistic and fascistic practices only serve as a temporary shield against the people’s wrath. The narrative of Armita’s unjust death is now widely known, fueling the growing outrage against the regime.
The people of Iran, undistracted by the regime’s deceptive sympathy for external conflicts, continue to resist its tyrannical rule. Armita’s blood, like that of many before her, becomes a symbol of defiance, adding to the surging tide of popular resistance poised to challenge the mullahs’ regime.
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