Episode description

The anti-government protests sweeping Iran are now in their third month, with no sign of ending, despite a bloody crackdown. Women have been at the forefront of the unrest that began in mid-September following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, "improperly". The protests have spread to more than 150 cities and 140 universities in all 31 of the country's provinces and are seen as one of the most serious challenges to the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. What are the protesters calling for? What is Iran’s leadership planning to do to end the unrest - and what does this mean for Iran’s relationship with its neighbours and with the West?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts:

Azadeh Moaveni - Iran expert, writer and associate professor of journalism at New York University.

Esfandyar Batmanghelidj - founder and CEO of the Bourse & Bazaar economic thinktank specialising in the Middle East and Iran.

Sanam Vakil - deputy director of Chatham House’s Middle East North Africa programme in London.

Also featuring : Sadegh Zibakalam - writer and Professor of political science at the University of Tehran

Producer: Ellen Otzen and Rumella Dasgupta

(Photo: A woman in a street in Tehran, Iran. Credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA/Reuters)