The protests in Iran against "morality police"

We give guidance.

(Max Blumenthal's The GrayZone) Anti-authority protests inside Iran were triggered by the killing of Mahsa Amini, a young woman picked up by Iran’s "Morality Police" (actually "Guidance Patrol") on the grounds of supposed indecent exposure. These protests have drawn massive international attention.

Media around the world are following these protests, and on social media the hashtag surrounding Mahsa Amini’s name has generated more attention and retweets than almost any hashtag in Twitter's history.

But how much of this international response is authentic? How much of it is related to genuine concern for Iranian women — rather than a long-standing Western [and Israeli] desire for regime change in Tehran, capital of Iran?

We're happy to wear head covering for modesty.

To better understand this issue, Blumenthal spoke to an Iranian woman inside Iran. Her name is Dr. Setareh Sadeghi, Ph.D. She is an independent researcher, translator, teacher, and doctorate. She lives in the city of Esfahan.

MAX BLUMENTHAL: Setareh Sadeghi, let’s talk about you and your own political views before we get into some of the details of these protests and the campaign behind them. You studied the U.S. Civil Rights Movement as part of your Ph.D., and you’re also a student of propaganda [analysis]. Where do you situate yourself within the Iranian political spectrum, and specifically do you support women protesting the morality police and issues like the hijab [Muslim covering for women]?

SETAREH SADEGHI: Well, yes, as you mentioned, I finished my Ph.D. in American Studies, and I studied propaganda analysis as part of my Ph.D. dissertation, and the rhetoric of social movements as well. So I have always been supportive of the Iranian government as a whole — the notion of an Islamic republic — but I have also been critical towards a lot of the things that happen in my country, like many of the other people who live here. More