Dispatch from Saqqez: Eye witness' account of Iran after Amini's death

SAQQEZ, Iran - The whole ordeal started on a Saturday morning on September 17, 2022. While it was still dark the lifeless body of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old girl killed by the morality police in Tehran, arrived at Aychi Saqqez cemetery in a wooden coffin. Initially, around 50 people were present in the cemetery but the number started to increase as the weather started to clear, soon reaching the hundreds. 

Amini’s family was busy conducting the rituals inside the mosque, with onlookers waiting outside for the body to be ready for burial. During the funeral, I felt an atmosphere of sadness and anger combined, evident on everyone’s faces. With the number of attendees growing, hope gradually started to overcome the grief. The crowd suddenly lost its calm, with voices being heard shouting “death to dictator” as the situation started to change. From this moment onwards, this would be a chant heard across the country. 

The corpse was finally ready around 10 am and her body was carried by the hands of the people towards her final resting place as slogans against the government continued. Suddenly, for the first time the slogan “Woman, Life, Liberty” was chanted from a corner, the rest of crowd immediately reverberated this slogan. This was the moment the slogan became the manifesto of an uprising that engulfed most of Iran within a few days.

The crowd continued growing without the chants subsiding for any moment. A woman could be seen being propped up by other women and from her screams filled with grief, I could tell this was Amini’s mother. 

“My daughter’s hijab was fine, why did you kill her? My daughter killed because of a scarf, I remove it too,” she shouted out as she lifted her scarf in the air with other women then following suit. 

A man stood in front of her saying “do not cry, be proud of your daughter’s death, she has shown us the path to freedom” and with the slogan “death to dictator” he finished his words, but her mother’s tears continue falling.  

While the funeral ceremony was nearing its end, a group of people announced that they were set to gather outside the government building in Saqqez. People began to march towards the city center, waving photos of Amini and chanting anti-regime slogans. It took over an hour for the crowd to reach the city, specifically Quds Square and I could tell based on the anger and rage that I could see and hear that confrontation with security forces was imminent. The surrounding area soon became a scene of clashes between people and regime forces.

The news of the protests and the general strikes reached the different corners of the country. When I left the house on Monday morning, I noticed that for the first time, there was an actual general strike staged by people from the suburbs to the heart of the city.

In the route from Azadi Square to Republic Square, and from there to Quds Square, there were people, particularly young people, looking for an opportunity to join together and begin a protest despite the strong presence of security forces who repeatedly warned people to avoid gathering. In the afternoon, these small groups merged and Saqqez become the scene of heavy clashes between people and regime forces. 

Police used weapons and shot guns while people resorted to stones and slogans of “Woman, Life, Liberty”, “Death to dictator.”

A 35 year-old-protestor named Fereydoun Mahmoudi was killed by a bullet during the clashes of this day, in addition to several other wounded. On Tuesday morning, I was informed he had passed away, and I found out from his family that he was quietly buried at dawn under the pressure of regime forces and in the presence of only a few acquaintances.

Amini’s death, her funeral, and the strikes spread Saqqez’s voice to the world, with demonstrations spreading across Iran, creating hope and reducing people’s fear.

The clashes become more intense at the start of the second week of the protests. Our group began protesting at Mowlawi Park, but because we were being pursued by security forces, we took several detours. Security forces used weapons, and we could see several people injured. When a car full of regime forces start shooting and chasing us, we tried to seek shelter in one of the houses that had opened its door to the protestors. In absolute disbelief, regime forces stormed the house, firing shots and demanding everyone to surrender. After breaking the entrance door and opening it, some soldiers rushed to one of the floors where the protestors had sought shelter and arrested some of them. 

Hiding behind a car parked in the house’s yard kept me safe from security forces and all I could hear was yelling and scolding that lasted about half an hour. After the situation calmed down and the forces moved away, I stepped inside the building. I found out that one of the family members who had sheltered us was seriously injured in the leg. The attendants provided him with the basic care.

The protests intensified, reaching their climax on the 40th day of Amini’s death. The entire city went on strike and people headed to Aychi cemetery where she was laid to rest. Although there was a strong presence of police and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces on the route, but people were far more resolute than first day.

The 40th day was held in the presence of tens of thousands of people, I had never seen such an enormous crowd gathering in one place in Saqqez before. I tried to get close to her grave in the cemetery.

I could see Mahmoudi’s widow standing next to Amini’s grave with a picture of her husband who was killed during the protests on September 19. However, no one from Amini’s family was present at the cemetery after being forbidden by the government to attend public gatherings. The ceremony took place in full splendor, and people began walking back towards the city. The crowd dazzled every observer and marked a historic day.

Just as was the case during the day of the funeral, regime forces blocked people from entering the city in Revolution Square and fired tear gas as well as bullets. I saw a woman holding her child, concerned about the effects of tear gas, but people were determined to bypass the barricade, and fierce clashes erupted on the roads leading to the main squares. 

Since the army bases were located nearby, people asked for assistance from soldiers, but they were not given a response. Clashes continued throughout the night in several locations of the city.

Strikes and protests have dramatically altered the atmosphere of Saqqez in recent weeks. “The strikes are creating more solidarity among the people, even if we open the store, no one is eager to go shopping unless necessary,” a shopkeeper told me. 

Additionally, some events and ceremonies have been suspended spontaneously by people and “in the past 50 days, less than 10 orders have been made, while before we had orders almost every day,” a wedding videographer said.

Teachers and students are one of the main pillars of the current uprising. In numerous instances, undercover policemen have turned student’s protests vioent. “ I am not ready to send my child to school as long as I feel there may be serious violence against my child due to protests,” a relative told me after hearing about the brutality that had taken place in one of the schools.

The general public atmosphere in society has also been affected by these changes. When I visited Molawi park in Saqqez, there was no sign of fun or joyous Kurdish music whereas, this time last year, the park would be at its peak in terms of people. 

Participating in night-time protests or tracking the news from various social networks has become the daily activity for many residents. 
All of this indicates a shift, one from fear to optimism for a better future.

Written by a special correspondent from Saqqez, western Iran (Rojhelat), whose identity has been concealed for security reasons.