Civil unrest 

and protests against the government of Iran associated with the death in police custody
of Mahsa Amini (Persian: ‫ )مهسا امینی‬began on 16 September 2022 and are ongoing as of early
December 2022. Amini had been arrested by the Guidance Patrol for allegedly violating
Iran's mandatory hijab law by wearing her hijab "improperly" while visiting Tehran from Saqqez.
According to eyewitnesses, she had been severely beaten by Guidance Patrol officers. [15] As the
protests spread from Amini's hometown of Saqqez to other cities in the province of Kurdistan and
throughout the country, the government responded with widespread internet blackouts, nationwide
restrictions on social media usage,[16][17] tear gas and gunfire.[18][19][20]
Although the protests have not been as deadly as those in 2019 (when more than 1,500 were killed),
[21]
 they have been "nationwide, spread across social classes, universities, the streets [and] schools",
and called the "biggest challenge" to the government of Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
[22]
 as of 29 November 2022 at least 448 people, including 60 minors, had been killed as a result of
the government's intervention in the protests;[note 1] an estimated 18,210 have been arrested [note
2]
 throughout at least 134 cities and towns, and at 132 universities. [note 3][14][23]
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed the widespread unrest not only as "riots" but
also as a “hybrid war" caused by foreign states and dissidents abroad. [24][25][26] Women, including
schoolchildren, have played a key role in the demonstrations. In addition to demands for increased
rights for women, the protests have demanded the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, setting them
apart from previous major protest movements in Iran, which have focused on election results or
economic woes.[27] The government's response to the protests has been widely condemned.