The state and the protesters are in an uneasy equilibrium
Bold tactics keep the protest movement going in Iran
Massive masses continued to protest against the killing of Mahsa Amini.
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Demonstrations swept different parts of Tehran.
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Lightning protests in small groups, pictures displayed on apartment walls, and fountains painted red: Young Iranians, using no means other than their phones, adopted various tactics to keep the demonstrations burning in protest of Mahsa Amini's death.
The protest movement has proven its ability to continue for more than a month since its eruption, despite the crackdown launched by the security forces, and has claimed the lives of at least 122 people.
The protests erupted in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Tehran's morality police on the grounds of not adhering to a strict dress code.
Women led the movement. They even took off the veil and set it on fire, and circulated the phones of “Woman, Life, Freedom” and “Death to the Dictator,” movements and slogans that were echoed and repeated around the world.
Despite internet restrictions and blocking access to popular apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp, clever young people were still able to produce videos depicting their protests.
Video footage, resembling a game of chase, showed drivers honking their car horns in support of the protesters, and blocking roads with cars to slow security forces.
Street traffic was also obstructed by overturning and setting fire to garbage cans, and in some cases overturned police cars.
The security forces responded by riding motorbikes to pass, and they were seen removing license plates to identify the drivers later and arrest them.
Police on motorbikes were also seen firing shotguns at protesters, throwing tear gas or even paintballs to track them down.
great courage
Young men, in turn, resorted to gnawing, switching their phones to "flying mode" to avoid being located, and carrying extra clothes to replace the paint-stained ones.
In a video clip circulated on social media, protesters were seen removing a surveillance camera over a road in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Governorate, Mahsa Amini's hometown.
Others were seen in other footage organizing a larger number of small flash rallies, away from city squares normally used for political rallies.
Shadi Sadr, director of the London-based Justice Society for Iran, wrote on Twitter: “It takes great courage to take to the streets when the security forces know everyone. The uprising continues, but we watch fewer videos due to strict restrictions on the internet.” .
Images of women cutting their hair during protests spread, an expression of grief that has turned into a symbol of resistance drawn from Persian folklore.
Those who were afraid to take to the streets resorted to other, more discreet ways to participate.
Two weeks ago, a protest figure emerged in which the waters of Tehran's fountains turned blood, after artists dyed them red to reflect the deadly repression.
In the same vein, art students at a university in Tehran filmed a video showing their hands raised in the air and covered in red paint.
On the same day, activists from Ali's Adalah group hacked a live news broadcast of state television, and installed a picture of a target and flames over a picture of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Pictures circulating online this week showed an effigy of a cleric hanging on a bridge in Tehran.
In a video taken at night, Amini's face was projected onto the wall of an apartment tower in Tehran's Ekpatan district, as protesters chanted slogans from windows or rooftops.
unstable balance
The schoolgirls even moved and turned their backs to the camera, taking off their headscarves.
Independent researcher Mark Perroughs said his analysis of visual evidence on social media showed that the peak of the protests was on September 21, and that participation fell this month.
But he told AFP that while the protests are experiencing "highs and lows, there is still a level of sustainability that we have not seen in previous periods of protest", such as the 2019 protests that erupted due to a sudden rise in fuel prices.
Henry Romy, an Iran specialist at The Washington Institute, said he expects the protests to continue for some time.
"The better their ability to organize and coordinate, the greater the opportunity to expand their support base, and they pose a clear short-term challenge to the regime," he told AFP.
“But the state security apparatus excels precisely in disrupting this kind of organized opposition, thanks to an elaborate toolbox of violence, arrests, internet disruption and intimidation,” he added. Neither of them is able to overcome the challenge posed by the other, which indicates that the protest movement and the ongoing violence may continue for a long time.
The protest movement has proven its ability to continue for more than a month since its eruption, despite the crackdown launched by the security forces that claimed the lives of at least 122 people.
Images of women cutting their hair during the protests spread, expressing grief that has turned into a folklore symbol of resistance.
Despite internet restrictions and blocking access to popular apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp, young people were still astutely able to produce videos depicting their protests.
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