Andrew Ghalili, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST
Just after the one year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s murder, the Islamic Republic has reportedly sent yet another young Iranian girl to the hospital in critical condition due to “improper” hijab. Her name is Armita Geravand and here’s what we know about her thus far.
THE BOTTOM LINE
- Armita Geravand, a 16 year old Iranian high school student, is seen on video entering a Tehran subway with two friends. The video then shows a group of passengers assisting an apparently unconscious individual, pulling her out of the subway onto the platform.
- This report, plus the video and pictures of Geravand in her hospital bed in a coma, are tragically reminiscent of what happened to Mahsa Amini. As in the moments after Mahsa’ murder, Armita’ name has gone viral as a hashtag (آرمیتا_گراوند#) on Persian-language X (Twitter) and other platforms, having been mentioned over 300,000 times within two days.
- Maryam Lotfi, a reporter for the Iranian Shargh newspaper who went to the hospital to report on Geravand’s condition, was arrested and remains held by government forces.
REGIME CRACKS DOWN IMMEDIATELY
- Out of fear that the news about Geravand would spark mass unrest, the Islamic Republic immediately increased security measures around the hospital, where Geravand is in a coma, and attempted to prevent anyone from spreading the news.
- In addition to arresting Ms. Lofti for reporting on Geravand at the hospital, Iran Wire reported “the presence of heightened security measures around the Fajr Hospital, including a substantial deployment of security personnel in the area.” Geravand was also reportedly taken to a high-security hospital.
- Regime security forces reportedly went to visit Armita’s parents, forbidding them from posting about their daughter on social media or talking to human rights groups. They were reportedly forced to make a statement to the media disavowing public belief that the Islamic Republic was involved.