The third episode of ECFR’s WOMENP mini-series looks at domestic dynamics and the human rights situation in Iran a year after nationwide protests erupted following the death of a young woman, Mahsa Jina Amini, in police custody. The podcast unpacks how power dynamics between state and society have shifted since, and its implications on the country’s leadership. How have Iranians continued with acts of resistance and civil disobedience despite the large scale crackdown by authorities? How has the West has responded, and what more can European countries do to tangibly support activists and human rights defenders inside Iran?

In this episode, ECFR's Ellie Geranmayeh speaks to Tara Sepehri Far, Iran and Kuwait researcher, Middle East and North Africa division, Human Rights Watch; Sussan Tahmasebi, executive director, FEMENA; and Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House.
 
This podcast was recorded on 30 August 2023.
 
Suggested reading by experts:
 
The Protests Inside Iran’s Girls’ Schools by Azadeh Moaveni
 
Iran’s Hijab-Industrial Complex by Kourosh Ziabari
 
We-change.org, by multiple authors
 
The Uncaged Sky by Kylie Moore-Gilbert
 
Bureaucraft: Statemakers in Amman and Baghdad by José Ciro Martínez, Omar Sirri

A Year on from the Mahsa Amini Protests: Where Iran is headed and Implications for Western Policy

Short interviews and comments by our experts and others on breaking news and key topics from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) - the first pan-European think-tank. Launched in October 2007, our objective is to conduct research and promote informed debate across Europe on the development of coherent and effective European values-based foreign policy.

Listen also to Mark Leonard's The World in 30 Minutes, our weekly series in which we explore the big issues in foreign policy: https://soundcloud.com/ecfr

A Year on from the Mahsa Amini Protests: Where Iran is headed and Implications for Western Policy

ECFR ON AIR