- [Narrator] On September 16th, 22 year old Mahsa Amini died
after being detained for allegedly violating Iran's laws
requiring women to wear a headscarf.
Iranian authorities say she died of illness,
but her family said she fell into a coma
after being mistreated by police.
Protests sparked by her death have since rallied groups
across Iran's society from ethnic minorities
to school children, and even oil workers.
According to human rights groups,
clashes with police have killed more than 200 people.
But despite the crackdowns
and widespread internet shutdowns,
videos have continued to emerge,
showing how unrest has spread beyond women's rights
to a movement that is calling for an end
to strike theocratic rule.
These demonstrations have now turned
into the most broadly supportive movement in Iran
in more than four decades.
A day after her death,
Amini's funeral took place in her hometown of Saqqez.
The ceremony quickly turned into a protest
against the country's morality police.
Mourners took off their headscarves
in defiance of the very rules Amini
was accused of breaching.
Amini was Kurdish Iranian,
part of an ethnic minority
that has long accused the government
of discrimination and neglect.
After a week of unrest, authorities launched strikes
at Kurdish militant groups
across the border in Iraq
saying they were inciting the protests.
Although there were no visible separate slogans
in the protests that followed Amini's death.
And the demonstrations
against Iran's strict Islamic dress code took on a new form.
On September 20th, a woman
in the eastern city of Kerman removed her headscarf
and cut her hair in a video that was widely shared online.
It triggered a wave of support from around the world
with celebrities and women imitating her gesture
and posting videos to social media.
That's roughly when the government restricted access
to the internet in large parts of the country.
Access to platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp
that have been used to organize rallies was blocked.
The internet cuts through criticism from businesses.
Tehran's Chamber of Commerce estimated the cost
of $24 billion for industries including IT services.
But despite the restrictions,
the protestors message was taken up by students
across the country.
In one case, children at an all girls school
took off their scarves and chased away a man
from the premises,
throwing bottles and chanting shameless.
As more crowds took to the streets in large numbers,
the government used tear gas and live ammunition
to disperse demonstrations.
A particularly deadly incident broke down the southeast,
home to another ethnic minority, the Baluch.
On September 30th, protestors were seen
walking towards a police station before being fired upon.
Local human rights groups say more than 90 people
were killed in what protestors dubbed "bloody Friday."
The government blamed the violence on a local militant group
that has denied any role in the protests.
And then demonstrations spread
to one of the most critical sectors of Iran's economy, oil.
In early October, workers went on strike
at a number of refineries, blocking roads with stones
and chanting slogans in support of other protests.
Although the government claimed these strikes
weren't related to Amini's death.
These strikes highlight another big problem
for the Islamic republic,
a struggling economy due to US sanctions
and a number of other issues in the country
and they have a symbolic weight in Iran.
It was strikes to oil refineries in 1978,
much bigger ones than today
that helped bring down the Shah of Iran,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi,
in the revolution that established
the current Islamic republic.
In recent years Iran's leaders
have faced several protest movements,
but have shown no sign of backing down
and today is no different.
They claim the demonstrations are being orchestrated
by foreign enemies,
and hundreds of protestors have been brought to trial.
But discontent has continued to emerge
across society disrupting normal life.
From this prison that was engulfed by fire
after a clash between detainees and prison guards
to shopkeepers striking across the country
and a major target of the demonstrations
continues to be one of the foundations
of the theocratic state.
Its Supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
(crowd chanting)