How supporters of 'Woman Life Freedom' in Iran rejected Israel's assault

The protests that followed the death in custody of Kurdish woman Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022 were arguably the most significant to rock Iran in decades.

Tens of thousands took to the streets, enraged by the apparent killing of a woman arrested by morality police over how she wore her hijab, which exposed a range of other grievances that exploded into public view.

The slogan "Woman Life Freedom", which has its roots in the pro-Kurdish groups associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was taken up as the mantra of the movement and quickly spread among reformists and opponents of the Islamic Republic.

When Israeli and US attacks began raining down on Iran on 13 June, some critics of the ruling establishment, particularly westerners and Iranians in the diaspora, began talking up the assault as an opportunity for regime change.

That rhetoric was echoed by Israeli officials and even Donald Trump.

But despite their animosity towards the Islamic Republic, few activists and critics in Iran see a change of governance being born from Israel or the US, or would welcome such a process.

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