Since the death of the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, Iran has been engulfed by protests and civil unrest. Amini’s arrest by the so-called Morality Police, who accused her of improperly wearing her hijab, resulted in her death after three days of being in a coma at the detention facility where she was held. At least 201 people have reportedly been killed during the authorities’ responses to the protests. Meanwhile, videos showing hundreds of women and girls setting fire to their head scarfs, cutting their hair, and destroying iconography of Iran’s leaders have dominated Iranian social media. The protests have attracted support from all levels of Iranian society, with some commentators suggesting that the movement is now the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic since 1979. But how has the international community responded to Iran’s domestic dissidence, and will this have an impact on its foreign policy? 

In addition to statements from world leaders, Iran has faced various sanctions in the aftermath of President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to the UN General Assembly. Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, expressed alarm at the death of Mahsa Amini while in custody. Moreover, statements condemning the brutal and disproportionate force used against protestors have been expressed by both the Australian foreign ministry and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called for the Iranian government to end persecution of women and to allow peaceful protest. In addition to this, the US has issued sanctions targeting senior officials of Iran’s Morality Police, the Intelligence Ministry, the Army’s Ground Forces, Basij Paramilitary Forces, and Law Enforcement Forces. The Canadian government has also targeted 34 Iranian officials and entities, and there have been calls from Germany, France, Denmark, and Italy for the EU to follow suit with travel bans and the freezing of assets. Iran’s economy has already suffered tremendously due to the sanctions under the Obama and Trump administrations, with unemployment at 9%, inflation at 37%, and Rial devaluation at 53% in 2020. With further sanctions targeted against key elites in the government, Iran could face extremely damaging economic repercussions that could severely cripple the country and set back any diplomatic and economic progress it has made in recent years.

Furthermore, the global outcry has also gone beyond the political level. Support for the protests and outcries against the authority’s response has been heard across the Iranian international diaspora, as well as from celebrities and sports stars around the world. Donya Dadrasan, an Iranian pop star based in Australia, has, like many others, shared footage of herself cutting her hair in solidarity. Similarly, Iraqi-born Abir Al-Sahlani, a Swedish MEP, cut her hair during a speech, as did the former political prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Although these actions themselves have had little impact on Iranian policy, the outburst of support across the world has served to popularise and consolidate the outrage of the Iranian people and pressured further official condemnation from Western governments.

In response to increasing pressure from Western diplomats, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian insisted that the protests would not destabilise Iran. He blames outside interference from satellite channels and websites for inciting violence in the streets. Another spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Nasser Kanaani, told an Iran outlet that “Washington is always trying to weaken Iran’s stability and security” and later on social media, that European support for “rioters” is an attempt to “violate Iran’s sovereignty”. With little to no attempts at public pacification and reform form the Iranian government, it is unlikely that there is any desire for concession among international spectators, let alone domestic civilians.

It is clear that the international outcry has damaged, or at least strained, public communications between Iran and the international community and has begun to impact diplomatic efforts behind the scenes. Amirabdollahian, who has also been involved in the long-running negotiations with the US over Iran’s nuclear program, has demanded assurances that any deal would last longer than the Biden administration, given Trump’s withdrawal in 2018. As a result, these negotiations seemed to have stalled, and with the reactions to the protests on the global stage and America’s implementation of further sanctions, it seems unlikely they will continue anytime soon.

Whilst the protests have yet to cause any irreparable damage to Iran, either domestically or internationally, they will undoubtedly lead to change through possible reform or huge social and economic disorder. More concerning for Islamic conservatives, however, are the calls for solidarity that have been seen across the Arab world from women, who, along with Western governments, are watching with anticipation to see what direction the country goes. Iran’s foreign policy has reacted defensively as they attempt to reflect international condemnation and repair diplomatic relations in the hope that the removal of sanctions will prevent the dire domestic situation from getting worse.