Pooneh Nik

Mahsa-Amini – Mahsa Jina Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from the northwestern city of Saqqez, hailed from Kurdistan, Iran. She was arrested by the Morality Police on the accusation of not wearing the “proper” hijab, She ultimately lost her life due to torture while in police custody. Amini's death sparked the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, originating in Saqqez and Kurdistan before spreading across Iran and beyond. The movement's rallying cry, "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî," meaning "Woman, Life, Freedom" in Kurdish (and was also translated as “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” into Persian), has become a symbol in the fight for justice and liberation.

Zahak – Zahak, also known as Zahhak the Snake Shoulder, holds a significant place in Persian mythology and folklore. In ancient texts such as the Avesta, he is referred to as Azhi Dahāka. Zahak is portrayed as an evil character cursed with two black snakes growing from his shoulders that could not be removed. These snakes served as a symbol of his malevolence and tyranny. Ahriman, the devil, prescribed Zahak to feed the snakes the brains of two young humans to ensure his safety from snakes’ harm.

Kumar-Daroftadeh – Kumar Daroftadeh, a 16-year-old, was reportedly shot at close range on October 30, 2022, while standing in the street with two friends in the western Iranian city of Piranshahr. His father, Hasan Daroftadeh, was summoned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and he was pressured to claim that his son was killed by Kurdish groups, not the Iranian government. However, at his funeral on October 31 in the Kurdish-Iranian city of Piranshahr, Daroftadeh described his son as a martyr for freedom.

Schoolgirls – Iranian schoolgirls have been at the forefront of the women's freedom movement in Iran, after the police killing of Mahsa Jina Amini. They have been protesting against mandatory hijabs and have faced alleged chemical gas attacks during protests since November 2022, with reports of thousands of students being affected in subsequent months.