Mahsa Amini Movement in Iran: Patterns of Persecution

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: Mahsa Amini #1 - Alisdare Hickson

On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini died in the custody of Iran's morality police after being detained for "improper" hijab. Her death triggered the largest popular movement in the Islamic Republic's history. "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" — Woman, Life, Freedom — became the slogan of a movement that brought hundreds of thousands into the streets across all 31 provinces. Three years on, prosecutions stemming from the Iran Mahsa movement continue. New executions, sentences, and arrests are documented monthly. This article examines the patterns of persecution and their continuing relevance to asylum claims.[1]

The evidence base draws on the UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFMI), the UN Special Rapporteur, Iran Human Rights, Hengaw, KHRN, the Center for Human Rights in Iran, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the comprehensive documentation by 6Rang, Volunteer Committee to Follow up on the Situation of Detainees, and Sharif University networks.

UN Fact-Finding Mission Findings

The UN Human Rights Council established the Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFMI) on 24 November 2022. The Mission's March 2024 final report (A/HRC/55/67) made historic findings — that the Iranian state's conduct during the protests "may amount to crimes against humanity" of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts. The Mission's mandate has been repeatedly extended.[2]

Movement Phases

The Mahsa Amini movement evolved through recognisable phases. Understanding these phases helps locate individual applicant profiles in time.[3]

Protest-Related Executions

As of November 2024, at least 9 Mahsa-protest participants have been executed. Many more remain on death row. The executed include the following.[4]

• Mohsen Shekari — 23 years old; first protest execution, 8 December 2022.
• Majidreza Rahnavard — 23 years old; publicly hanged 12 December 2022.
• Mohammad Mehdi Karami, Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini — 7 January 2023.
• Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi, Saeed Yaghoubi — Isfahan three, 19 May 2023.
• Milad Zohrevand — November 2023.
• Reza Rasaei — August 2024.
• Gholamreza Rasaei — November 2024.

Legal Charges Used

Iranian prosecutors use several Penal Code provisions against protest participants.[5]

• Article 279 — Moharebeh ("Enmity against God") — capital offence for armed activity.
• Article 286 — Efsad-fil-Arz ("Corruption on Earth") — capital offence broadly applied.
• Article 287 — Baghi (Armed rebellion) — capital offence.
• Article 610 — "conspiracy against state security."
• Article 500 — "propaganda against the regime."
• Article 286 read with Computer Crimes Law 2009 — for online protest activity.

The Women, Life, Freedom Movement

"Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" originated in Kurdish women's movements — particularly Rojava — before becoming the Iran-wide slogan. The movement is unprecedented in Iranian history for the centrality of women's leadership, the focus on hijab as core grievance, and the cross-ethnic, cross-class scope. Women protesters faced specific gender-based persecution including sexual violence in custody, public unveiling forced as documented in trial videos, and sentences specifically targeting prominent women activists.[6]

Zahedan Bloody Friday

On 30 September 2022, Iranian security forces opened fire on Sunni Baluchi worshippers leaving Friday prayer at the Makki mosque in Zahedan. At least 96 people were killed — the single bloodiest day of the movement. The massacre is the subject of specific UN FFMI findings. Maulvi Abdolhamid, the prominent Sunni Baluchi cleric, has continued to call for accountability — and faces ongoing pressure.[7]

Continuing Prosecutions in 2026

The Mahsa movement is not historical — prosecutions continue. New executions occur regularly. Mass trials of in absentia defendants continue. Women political prisoners — Pakhshan Azizi, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Verisheh Moradi, Cecilia Sala — receive continued attention. The 2024 Hijab and Chastity Law has intensified the legal framework. The post-June 2025 war environment has accelerated the pattern.[8]

The Mahsa Amini movement was not a single moment of protest but the start of a sustained cycle of repression. Three years on, the state response continues to produce new prosecutions, new executions, and new arrests. The UN Fact-Finding Mission's findings of crimes against humanity establish the international legal characterisation of what occurred.
UN Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, Final Report A/HRC/55/67 (March 2024)

Implications for Asylum Claims

For Iranian asylum applicants whose claims connect to the Mahsa movement, multiple frameworks apply.[9]

1. Political opinion — direct application for documented participants.
2. Particular social group — women who refused hijab; Sharif University students; Kurdish protest participants.
3. Race / nationality — for Kurdish and Baluchi participants.
4. Religion — for Sunni Baluchi profile (Zahedan).
5. Imputed political opinion — for family members of arrested or killed.
6. Sur place activity — diaspora "Woman, Life, Freedom" activism.
7. Article 3 ECHR / CAT — torture and execution risk.

Conclusion

The Mahsa Amini movement produced one of the most documented mass persecution events of the 2020s. The UN Fact-Finding Mission's findings of crimes against humanity, the continuing prosecutions, the September 2024 Hijab and Chastity Law, and the post-June 2025 war environment all sustain the risk pattern. Mahsa-related profiles remain among the most actively-targeted in Iran.

For asylum decision-makers, Mahsa-related cases are extensively documented. Refugee protection is regularly granted across major jurisdictions. See our companion analyses of Iran analytical report and Kurdish activists in Iran.