Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi says the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 spurred a generation in Iran that no longer remains silent in the face of repression.
Panahi added that she continues to live on through acts of defiance and calls for freedom, as he marked the third anniversary of her death which ignited nationwide protests.
“When they took her life, a veil of lies was lifted and a generation rose up that decided to remain silent no longer,” Panahi said in a post on Instagram.
“With killings and intimidation, they wanted to impose silence, but a greater cry echoed. Since that day, nothing has been the same…We are no longer those former people. The blood of Mahsa and hundreds of others does not allow anything to appear normal again."
“Mahsa has not died; she lives in every defiant glance, in every image that breaks censorship, in every cry demanding freedom. She breathes in the eyes of the girls who have let their hair fly in the wind,” he said.
Panahi, who has faced imprisonment and a 15-year travel ban for his outspoken criticism of the Islamic Republic, received the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year in May.
In his acceptance speech, he urged unity among Iranians striving for democracy: "Let's set aside our differences. The important thing now is the freedom of our country, so that no one would dare to tell us what to wear or what film to make."
Panahi, one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors, was arrested in July 2022 after he protested against the arrest of two fellow filmmakers who had voiced criticism of the authorities. He was sentenced to six years in prison before being released on bail in early 2023.
Amini, 22, died on September 16, 2022, after being detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating mandatory hijab rules. Her death sparked months of unrest in which at least 551 protesters, including 68 children, were killed, according to rights groups, and thousands detained.
Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a scholar and writer, said in a video message that Amini’s death was “a spark that triggered a historic movement.” She added: “This movement shifted women from the margins to the center of society and showed that women are no longer sidelined.”
She argued that the protests went beyond hijab rules. “The most important achievement was that women demonstrated their power and changed the thinking of society. Today many men defend women’s rights and believe gender should not be a basis for discrimination,” she said.
Zahra Rahnavard, a Green Movement leader under house arrest, said in a statement that “Iranian women, despite their abilities, are among the most suppressed in the world” due to discriminatory laws and policies.
She described Amini’s death as “a whip across the conscience of the nation” and said the uprising “has given the nation hope for a future free of oppression, backwardness and discrimination.”
Actress Pantea Bahram, banned from working in Iran, reposted a message from Amini’s father and wrote on Instagram: “Your name is a reminder of the beginning of a new era … built with courage, fear, defiance, anger, blood and at times madness. Salute to the girls.”
Another actress barred from work, Katayoun Riahi, criticized the marginalization of dissident artists, writing: “The rule of the game is clear: you are either with us or against us. Elimination is achieved either through defamation or oblivion.” She said younger generations “will not accept these rules” and called for hope in “a brighter future.”
Narges Mohammadi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and jailed activist, said in an interview that “the movement is alive and ongoing, and its vitality is visible in society’s fabric.”
She said women’s voluntary defiance of hijab rules has weakened state control: “The Islamic Republic no longer has the same power even to hold official events.”
The judiciary’s Mizan news agency said it had reopened inquiries into decades-old land transfers involving national property. Tasnim, a news outlet affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, said the cases concern valuable land originally allocated under “olive cultivation” and “orchard development” schemes.
In one case, Tasnim reported, 15 hectares of land in the Lalan area of Shemiranat were sold at a discounted price of 150 million rials (about $150 in today’s rate) on instalments to a company described as belonging to a “well-known figure.”
The outlet said no payments were made, and the property lies within an environmentally protected zone where sales were prohibited.
In another case, ILNA news agency said 80 hectares in the Cheshmeh Magasi area of Damavand were transferred at half price to a buyer under a “fodder cultivation” project allegedly backed by a state official.
No crops were planted, the report said, and after legal challenges the contract was annulled and converted into a lease. Subsequent rulings ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to reimburse the buyer at market value plus expenses.
The Cheshmeh Magasi region has also been the focus of a long-running land dispute involving the Kayhan newspaper, which operates under the supervision of Iran’s Supreme Leader.
In early 2024, local media reported the newspaper had not returned 200 hectares of land allocated in the 1990s for “tree planting and livestock farming” despite a court ruling. Kayhan rejected the allegations at the time, calling them politically motivated.
Many with monthly incomes of 200 to 300 million rials ($200-300) can no longer afford routine purchases or modest leisure activities.
One young woman told the paper her salary had risen sixfold in four years but her quality of life had deteriorated. “I clearly struggle to make ends meet each month,” she said, explaining that social outings had shrunk to small gatherings at friends’ homes.
A married couple said they had stopped buying basic items like coffee, while another respondent described cutting back on skin-care products and restaurants out of fear of running out of money before month’s end.
Other interviewees echoed the theme. A newly married couple said that after a short trip to Kish Island in southern Iran, they had no money left for the rest of the month.
Once accustomed to filling their cart with extras at chain stores, they now only buy essentials. A bookstore owner recounted earning 500 million rials ($500) a month but said higher household costs meant “in my youth I am constantly thinking about money problems, not joy.”
A teacher who once traveled frequently told Shargh he could no longer afford even budget trips to neighboring Turkey. Rising rents forced him and his friends to abandon a shared home outside Tehran.
“Even though all of us earn more than last year, our quality of life has clearly gone down,” he said.
Psychological strain
The loss of economic security is driving chronic anxiety among young professionals, psychologist Nasser Ghasemzadeh told Shargh.
He said financial stress discourages marriage and childbearing and undermines collective morale: “A young person who compares himself with peers abroad feels defeated. That sense of failure reduces hope in life.”
Without economic reforms, insecurity will continue to erode both individual mental health and wider social cohesion, he warned.
The problem is rooted in inequality and state neglect, economist Hossein Raghfar told the daily. Wage-earners, unable to offset inflation through pricing power, bear the brunt of rising costs, according to him.
Raghfar cited a 60–70 percent jump in car prices last winter as proof of government failure to regulate markets.
He cautioned that frustration is fueling crime and social unrest. “These young people look at the decision-making system and see it as the main cause of their failures—and to a large extent they are right.”
Once a political force, the middle class now feels powerless, he added, drained of energy for civic engagement by daily financial stress.
The insecurity facing young, educated workers is no longer a private matter but a collective threat to Iran’s social fabric and future stability, Shargh concluded.
Iran faces one of the highest inflation rates in the region. According to the International Monetary Fund's estimates, the annual inflation rate has averaged above 42% since 2020.
Sanctions, corruption and economic mismanagement have contributed to widespread economic hardship and market instability as Iran's currency the rial has lost over 90% of its value since US sanctions were reimposed in 2018.
A poll by Iran's leading economic newspaper Donya-ye Eqtesad last month showed that a vast majority of Iranians are dissatisfied with the government's economic policies, as costs of living soar and the value of the Iranian currency slips.
