Woman Student Boldly Disrobes in Protest, Sparking Widespread Support and Controversy 

Surrounded by women in head-to-toe covered black chadors, Ahoo Daryaei calmly sits in her underwear on a ledge. She was stopped by Basijis (paramilitary militia forces) at her campus, the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, for not wearing “proper” hijab, and in the conflict, an officer assaulted her, tearing her headscarf and clothing. In response, she took off all her outer clothing. Then police converged on her and violently dragged her into a van. All this took place while too many of her fellow students looked away and walked on by. 

Authorities immediately announced that she had “severe mental problems,” and transferred her to a mental hospital ward surrounded by military guards. In reality, she is a PhD student of French literature and a mother of two with no history of mental illness. Some family social media posts allege that she is being injected with psychiatric drugs. There is a long history of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) using psychiatric institutions and drugs to punish and “reeducate” dissidents, especially rebellious women who refuse to submit under Iran’s fascist capitalist theocracy.¹

Narges Mohammadi, 2023 Nobel laureate imprisoned in Evin Prison, posted the very next day:

Women pay the price for “defiance,” but they do not bow down to force. The “body” of the protesting university woman symbolizes resistance, the intensity of anger, and rebellion. 

A female student, dressed in ordinary clothes, enters the university to attend class. Security forces prevent her from entering because of “mandatory hijab.” The confrontation escalates until she removes her clothes. 

Recalling what Iranian women have endured in these moments of humiliation, insult, and oppression is horrifying, unbearable, and shattering. 

Officials and state agents have announced that the woman who undressed at the university is undergoing “psychological evaluations.” It is not the protesting woman who should be subjected to psychological examination, but rather those enforcing and implementing the shameful phenomenon of “mandatory hijab,” who allow themselves to use women’s bodies as tools of violence against them at any place and time.

The regime cannot force protesting women, who have made their bodies symbols of dissent and defiance against misogyny and tyranny, into retreat by labeling them as “mentally unstable,” “sexually deviant,” or “misled.” 

The protesting woman at the university transformed the “body” that the regime has for years tried to make a tool of shame, repression, and sexualization into a powerful symbol of protest against it. 

She did not back down in the face of coercion to impose “mandatory hijab” or to cover her hair; instead, she made her body a symbol of defiance and insubordination. 

I call for her freedom and an end to the suppression and harassment of women.

Narges Mohammadi
Evin Prison — November 3, 2024
#WomanLifeFreedom

Ahoo’s action, considering the severe repression of women in Iran, where women are regularly prosecuted for “nudity” and “promoting prostitution” just for removing their mandatory headscarves, went viral in photos and illustrations on social media worldwide, many praising her bravery. A number of posts are from vehemently pro-Zionist, pro-U.S. and/or Islamophobic forces who try to capitalize on every protest against the IRI to promote pro-U.S. regime change — an effort which is more dangerous than ever in the increasingly fraught exchange of missile barrages between Iran (backed by Russia and China) and Israel (backed by the U.S. and NATO). In response, some posters decry all support for Ahoo’s protest as pro-Western interventionist — as if people are mindless robots with a binary switch that only allows them to support Dark-Ages Islamic fundamentalism OR U.S.-Israeli Zionist/imperialist genocide and crimes.

Inside Iran, slogans in support of Ahoo are appearing on university bathrooms, buses, and walls. In the wider world, protests have been taking place in Paris, France (where some women stripped to their underwear and held signs in front of French parliament gates) and also in London, England. In Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, the protests are linked to the defense of women political prisoners in danger of execution and demand the immediate release of Ahoo Daryaei. Especially notable are posts and graphics contrasting her rebellion to the “Handmaid’s Tale” society of extreme patriarchy, of religious fundamentalism, that is sweeping over our world, including in the U.S. But Ahoo and Narges, representing millions in Iran and around the world, are courageous voices from among Iran’s political prisoners who say NO to this oppressive world order and invite us to join them. 

Political Prisoners Lead the Fight Against the Death Penalty and More…

As recently as September 14, on one of those “No to Execution Tuesdays,” and the powerful second anniversary of the Mahsa Amini uprising, over two dozen women prisoners sent out this fearless clarion call that ended with “women of the world join us.” As part of their protest, they declared that they know of the risks to their own health and lives, they will not give up on the fight for emancipation. They stated that “The women of Evin stand united and determined until the death penalty is abolished. We will stand firm until the end.” The fury of women busted through the prison sound barrier with fierce chants and songs of rebellion, cries of freedom from oppression, all while they burned the hated compulsory hijab (forced headscarf) in the prison yard. 

The indomitable spirit of this people’s resistance to Iran’s dark ages capitalist theocracy stands out in the face of the relentless and vengeful rash of executions continuing. In October 2024, the theocratic regime reportedly hanged more than five a day. According to human rights groups, out of October’s 166 total, 66 were executed for supposed drug crimes; 20 were Kurdish or Baloch oppressed minorities; 13 were Afghan nationals. On November 6 alone, 12 people were executed, according to Iran Wire. In this threatening atmosphere, the heroic “No to Execution Tuesdays” prison hunger strike movement continues in its 41st week as of November 5, now in 23 prisons across Iran. 

A letter from seven wardmates of political prisoner Pakhshan Azizi in Evin called urgent attention to her death sentence currently under court review. Although she is convicted of “armed rebellion against the Islamic Republic,” the only so-called “evidence” against her are the years she spent selflessly aiding refugees from ISIS in Rojalva, Syria and Kurdish areas of Iraq.

….Pakhshan spent long years of her life giving aid to war-devastated women and children who had escaped from ISIS attacks and were in war-refugee camps. After her return to Iran, she was arrested, along with some members of her family. Issuing a death sentence to an aid worker who gave aid to victims of ISIS (which the Islamic Republic claims to combat), pressuring her family by imposing restrictions, depriving her of basic prisoner's rights — this must be viewed as having an ulterior motive. We consider this sentence to be a response to the women's uprising [i.e. "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising] against the unjust conditions of life that are imposed on them, and we are concerned about the consequences of this death sentence. Take effective action before it is too late!

Reyhaneh Ansari, Golrokh Iraee, Sakineh Parvaneh, Nahid Khodajoo, Nasrin Khezri Javadi, Varisheh Moradi, Maryam Yahyavi, 
Women’s Ward of Evin, November 2024

Rebel rapper Toomaj Salehi’s imprisonment is part of Iran’s on-going revenge against the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising (2022-2023) and those who supported it or took part. On October 30, the second anniversary of his arrest, his case was highlighted on social media inside and outside Iran. Through his rebellious songs and lyrics, he championed the fight for the exploited and oppressed, especially against women’s oppression and the forced hijab. He did this during the WLF uprising as tens of thousands were still in the streets and being arrested, and hundreds being shot down or disappeared. Although his conviction and death sentence were overturned after massive global outcry, Toomaj remains in prison with no definite sentence to this day. Read more on IEC’s website as to the enduring significance of his refusal to capitulate in the face of torture, threat of execution and continuing imprisonment. His selfless and fearless example — putting it all on the line FOR OTHERS — should be celebrated and emulated by all who crave justice worldwide. 

As the U.S. and Israel escalate threats towards Iran and potential for wider regional war, it is imperative to stand with those justly resisting the fascist theocracy in Iran as well as actively oppose U.S./NATO/Israel reactionary moves. As we made clear in our March 2021 Emergency Appeal with its lasting message that demands further global circulation:

All of Iran's political prisoners must be unconditionally and immediately released. The governments of the U.S. and Iran act from their national interests. And, in this instance, we the people of the U.S. and Iran, along with the people of the world, have OUR shared interests, as part of getting to a better world: to unite to defend the political prisoners of Iran. In the U.S., we have a special responsibility to unite very broadly against this vile repression by the IRI, and to actively oppose any war moves by the U.S. government that would bring even more unbearable suffering to the people of Iran. We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran: FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW! We say to the U.S government: NO THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!