Swept up in the surge of protests that followed Mahsa Amini’s death, 17-year-old Amir and his classmates demonstrated at school to demand women’s rights and an end to four decades of oppressive rule. In the early afternoon, riot police entered the building without warning. They beat those who tried to retreat, released tear gas, and arrested Amir and the others as part of a so-called operation labeled by the Ministry of Education as “psychological re-education centers.” A description given to EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA by Prensa Ibérica details Amir’s brutal treatment and wounds three days later, left visible on his body.
Amir’s mother, speaking through a translator, sent the account to the newspaper. It is almost impossible for Iranians to call abroad; communications are frequently cut, and the internet is accessible only through precarious, temporary loopholes. She managed to send brief WhatsApp messages, but those messages carried the weight of a family waiting through 72 hours of uncertainty, fearing Amir might join the vanished.
The first alarm came from Amir’s school, which alerted his parents to what had happened. He was not using his phone at the time of his arrest, and no one informed the family where he was. After two days of visiting every police station and hospital in the city, his name appeared on a list. His entry had been logged at one of the government’s command centers.
“We arrived at four in the morning and weren’t given Amir back until the following afternoon. We spent an entire day pleading with officers who barely looked at us. Eventually we paid bail and took him to a hospital to treat his wounds”, says his mother, who requested anonymity, just like Amir, who remains unnamed. A photo of his face was published.
She notes that Mahsa Amini, 22, killed by the morality police for an allegedly improper veil, was also sent to one of these centers. The people who took to the streets today were born and raised under this system. Government-run centers, she concludes, cannot fix what has been shaped by years of governance. Fariba Ehsan, president of the Iranian Human Rights Association in Spain, echoes this view, emphasizing the broader harm to youths who protest.
Between September 20 and 30, Amnesty International reported that 23 Iranian teenagers were killed, identified by full names, as a result of illegal force used by authorities. Many died from live ammunition, shots fired at close range, or severe beatings by security forces, the NGO explains.
Amir’s injuries include multiple blows, infected ears, and a bruise that traveled down his back after a rubber bullet strike. He was denied food and drink for a time and released only after confirming he was a minor. Otherwise, his family feared, the case might have ended differently. “Amir asked us to flee Iran,” his family says.
The goal, according to the researchers, is fear. They aim to intimidate the youth and their families, stoking panic within the regime to discourage participation in protests, notes Haizam Amirah Fernández, a senior fellow at the Mediterranean and Middle East program at the Royal Institute Elcano.
Amir’s case is not isolated. The government’s stance is clearly articulated by Education Minister Yousef Nouri, who claimed there are no students in prison and argued that detainees were moved to psychological and educational centers to prevent antisocial behavior. He spoke to a local reformist newspaper, challenging the accusations but offering a framework that ties to the state’s approach to dissent.
To locate those detained, the government has reportedly pressed teachers to disclose identities of protesting students. The labor union in Iran’s education sector reported that a school principal in Karaj was arrested for refusing to reveal information about her students and resisting the release of school security footage. Her status remains unknown.
The union has criticized the government’s intent to cast teachers as the enforcement arm of security forces. Ehsan from Spain, president of the Iranian Human Rights Association, notes that some professors reportedly forced students to record themselves singing as a display of loyalty to the regime, a tactic aimed at identifying potential dissidents who reject the ruling, and at trying to legitimize the crackdown beyond Iran’s borders.
On Wednesday, the European Union agreed on new sanctions against Iran in response to Mahsa Amini’s death and the government’s crackdown. The United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada had already imposed sanctions on the regime, citing violence against protesters. Amnesty International’s figures, focusing on confirmed names, estimate at least 144 deaths, with about 16 percent of victims under the age of 18.
Experts say the government will not compromise on matters related to women. A period between 1997 and 2005 was a moment of hope when veil restrictions loosened and appearances became more colorful, but those gains have receded. A veteran analyst from the Royal Institute of Elcano argues the regime remains determined to maintain its structural controls.
“This will demand losses and pain, yet the Iranian people—both men and women—are relying on a resilience that could spark lasting change,” Ehsan concludes. He believes this moment may differ from past revolutions because a spark has been lit and could spread.