Common Questions

What were the Mahsa Amini protests?: A wave of nationwide protests that erupted across Iran in September 2022 after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. They spread to all 31 provinces and became the largest challenge to the Islamic Republic since 1979.Source: Hengaw
Why do Iran war casualty figures differ so much?: The gap between government and independent casualty counts in the 2026 war follows the Mahsa Amini pattern: official figures run at one-quarter to one-third of Hengaw tallies. In the 2026 war, Hengaw counted over 5,900 killed; the Health Ministry reported 1,444.Source: Hengaw
Who suppressed the Mahsa Amini protests?: The Intelligence Ministry under Esmail Khatib was responsible for internal surveillance and protest suppression during the 2022 uprising. Israel killed Khatib in an airstrike on Tehran in March 2026; the US had posted a $10 million bounty for information about him.Source: Lowdown
Has Iran changed since the Mahsa Amini protests?: The apparatus used to crush the protests remains intact. Capital punishment for perceived dissent continues: a dual Iranian-Swedish national was hanged on espionage charges in March 2026, and military forces have been documented relocating into civilian spaces during the current conflict.Source: Hengaw
What is the difference between official and Hengaw casualty counts in Iran?: Hengaw counts consistently run three to four times higher than government figures, a pattern first documented during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. In the 2026 war, Hengaw counted 5,900 killed by 20 March while the Health Ministry reported 1,444.Source: Hengaw
Are Iran's 2022 protest prisoners still being executed?: Yes. Protest-era detainees are being executed under wartime security charges in 2026. Ali Fahim, detained during the Mahsa Amini protests, was executed at Qezel Hesar in March 2026. On 27 April, three of Fahim's co-defendants from the same case were transferred to solitary at Qezel Hesar.Source: Hengaw
How is Iran using the war to crack down on 2022 protesters?: Iran's 60-day internet blackout provides cover for executing protest-era prisoners under wartime security charges. Executions are timed during blackout windows; families are notified after the fact rather than given access.Source: Hengaw / NetBlocks

Background

The protests erupted in September 2022 after the morality police killing of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in custody. The uprising spread across all 31 provinces and became the largest sustained challenge to the Islamic Republic since its founding. The slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom" (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi) became the protest's international emblem.

The Mahsa Amini protests established the benchmark against which war-era repression is measured. Hengaw, the Kurdish human rights monitor that tracked protest killings in 2022, is producing the same independent counts in the current conflict: the credibility gap is identical, with wartime government figures running at one-quarter to one-third of Hengaw tallies, following the pattern set when official counts undercounted Amini protest deaths.

The apparatus used to crush the 2022 protests remains intact and is now directed at wartime dissent. Protest-era prisoners are being executed under wartime security cover: Ali Fahim, detained during the 2022 uprising, was executed at Qezel Hesar in March 2026. On 27 April 2026, Jafar Fakhrabadi was executed at Yazd Central Prison, and three of Fahim's co-defendants from the same Mahsa Amini-era case were transferred to solitary at Qezel Hesar. The minister responsible for suppressing the 2022 protests, Esmail Khatib, was killed by Israel in an airstrike in March 2026. The war has provided a mechanism to liquidate the remaining protest-era detainees with reduced international visibility, exploiting Iran's 60-day internet blackout.

How the World Sees Them

Iranian diaspora

The protests energised diaspora communities and the credibility of verification organisations like Iran Human Rights. That diaspora network now feeds information on wartime executions through the same channels established in 2022.

Iran (government)

The Islamic Republic declared the protests a foreign-backed conspiracy and never acknowledged the casualty gap. The same framing applies to wartime civilian deaths; protest-era prisoners are prosecuted under security charges rather than political ones.

Kurdish communities

Mahsa Amini was Kurdish; Kurdish-majority provinces were disproportionately affected in both the 2022 protests and the current war. Hengaw, founded to document Kurdish rights abuses, remains the primary independent source for both.

Western governments

The EU and US imposed targeted sanctions after the 2022 crackdown. Protest documentation networks continue to supply verification evidence to international bodies, but the 60-day blackout has significantly narrowed real-time access.