The contemporary history of Iran over the past few decades has been marked by contradictions and upheavals. During the Pahlavi era, the state sought to modernize and develop the country at great speed. Yet, this rapid transformation was not easily understood or absorbed by much of society. A significant portion of the population resisted, while others remained silent observers. With the rise of the Islamic Republic, the pendulum swung to the peak of tradition and opposition to modernity. Still, from the very beginning, many Iranians increasingly desired prosperity, development, and civil liberties. Although the war years left little room for such demands to emerge, from the 1990s onward this shift became ever more visible. Today, it is clear that the Iranian people aspire to progress and development, while the government resists and mobilizes all its resources to block this path. This is the tragic story of development in Iran: a nation and a state that have never been able to align on a common vision.
The growing rift between society and the regime led to the student movement of 1999. Earlier protests had taken place in different cities and provinces, but July 1999 was the first nationwide movement after the revolution. The state was able to suppress it. A decade later, the Green Movement of 2009, fueled by mass outrage over the disputed election between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi, shook the regime for months. Yet, once again, the protests were crushed without a single concession. 2009 marked the peak of reformist aspirations within the system, after which they rapidly declined. Throughout the 2010s, new waves of protests erupted across Iran, only to be met with the iron fist of the regime.
Meanwhile, two broader transformations were reshaping Iran. First, the younger generations replaced those who had lived through the 1979 Revolution. These new generations demanded freedom, development, and global connectivity. The more the state raged against the West, the more young Iranians identified with Western culture and distanced themselves from the Islamic Republic. Second, economic pressure deepened as real incomes declined. Unlike in previous decades, oil revenues could no longer cushion the blows. Under heavy sanctions, the economy followed a persistent downward trend. Many families slipped from middle and upper classes into poverty. For this new generation, the regime was no longer just a cultural adversary but also the direct cause of economic hardship. Of course, one should not overlook the role of technologies such as the Internet, which exposed society to the modern world.
It was under these conditions that the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 became a turning point. The violent and humiliating conduct of the morality police had long provoked public anger, but this time the nation exploded. Mandatory hijab, a core symbol for the regime’s most hardline supporters, became the focus of resistance. For the first time since the 1979 Revolution, a movement — “Woman, Life, Freedom” — forced the Islamic Republic into retreat.
In the past, the regime had occasionally yielded quietly to social pressure (as in the case of satellite dishes, where it eventually stopped enforcement despite laws remaining unchanged). But the case of hijab was fundamentally different. The state formally disbanded the morality police, and alternative measures soon failed. Ultimately, compulsory hijab effectively ended, and social norms — not state laws — became the main regulator of behavior.
The “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement is the only post-revolutionary movement in Iran that achieved a clear and undeniable outcome. Although the regime once again responded with brutal repression in the streets, it was forced, for the first time, to relinquish one of its most fundamental ideological strongholds. This retreat, though bitter for the authorities, marked a historic shift — proof that Iranian society has reached a new stage in its struggle for freedom and equality.
