Three Days of Strikes In Iran

Evenin’ Meteor readers,

Today we’re anxiously awaiting the results of the Georgia Senate run-off election which will decide if Herschel “what even is a pronoun” Walker or incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock will win the seat. We have reason to be optimistic—but there have already been documented instances of voter suppression and people struggling to get their absentee ballots, changing deadlines and more.

In today’s newsletter, we are sifting through the confusion of the recent headlines about the morality police in Iran, applauding some brave Swifties, and checking in on what else is going on in our world.

Watching the results come in,

Shannon Melero & Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT’S GOING ON

Seriously, what is going on in Iran: Over the weekend, The New York Times sent out a breaking news alert announcing that Iran’s “Gasht-e Irshad,” commonly referred to as the “morality police,” had been abolished. The Wall Street Journal and CBS News repeated the headline as well.

But that’s not exactly what happened. It didn’t take long for Iranian journalists and those familiar with the situation to chime in with much-needed clarifications.

“This is at best a very unclear and inconclusive remark uttered in the middle of a presser,” wrote Arash Aziz on Twitter. Aziz, an author and NYU PhD candidate, explains what he saw in the press conference: Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri made an off-hand comment that was widely reported as fact. As it turns out, Montazeri has no authority to make such a sweeping declaration.

Iranian state media eventually confirmed that Gasht-e Irshad has not been abolished, although citizens have reported a diminished presence of the force on the streets.

It’s not about a single misleading headline. The reality is that oppressive governments thrive on sowing seeds of confusion—and they have a strong incentive to do so, since their efforts to quiet the protests have failed. And given how fast stories spread on social media (and how much we desire good news), a misinterpreted quote or slightly inaccurate headline can quickly spiral into viral misinformation for Iranian officials to use to obscure what is happening in Iran. In this particular case, Iran’s state media can easily point to an error made by Western media and spin it into a narrative that outsiders are the ones really stoking the fires of revolution and pretend everything in Tehran is peachy.

In discussing the response to the Times article, Gissou Nia, an Iranian-American human rights lawyer, told CBC News, “I think it simply underscores that the global community wants a neat resolution to this story and is not realizing that the Iranian people want a full overhaul of the system—not just the morality police.”

But here’s what we know to be true: All of this is distracting from the bigger story. The sweeping movement in Iran continues against great odds with strikes, protests, and rallies planned for the majority of this week. The Iranian government is doing its utmost to brutally suppress these actions as well as any reporting on them. And while there may not be a ton of ways to help the women in Iran directly, we can continue to amplify the voices of the activists, agitators, and people on the ground risking their lives to fight theocratic rule and demand equal rights for all citizens.

AND: 

• The prophetess Taylor Swift once said, “There is nothing I do better than revenge.” And on Monday, her followers cleaved to this sacred portion of Swifture by filing a lawsuit against Ticketmaster for violating California’s antitrust and unfair competition laws. If you missed that particular debacle, there was an absolute excrement escapade during the pre-sale for tickets of Swift’s upcoming Eras tour. As a certified red-scarf-carrying Swiftie, I will be watching this case like a daughter-in-law waiting to kill you for the money.

• Anderson Lee Aldrich, the suspect arrested in connection with the Club Q shooting, has been formally charged with murder, hate crimes, and assault.

• Afghanistan’s national women’s soccer team, which fled to New Zealand when the Taliban returned to power last year, is no longer recognized as an official team by FIFA —meaning they may not be able to compete, let alone qualify, in the Women’s World Cup. It’s another devastating blow to a team without a home.

• Sixteen municipalities in Puerto Rico are suing a group of oil companies including Shell and Exxon for “downplaying the risks of their fossil-fuel products on climate change,” Latino Rebels reports. The plaintiffs are asking that the companies be held financially responsible for the 2017 hurricane season, which was worsened by climate change and particularly devastating for the island.

• The rise in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric—and in particular, the backlash against drag queens—has changed how venues prepare for family-friendly drag events. Even children’s bookstores, like this one in Virginia, had to decide between hiring a security presence or canceling their Drag Queen Story Hour. (They opted to hold the event and remain vigilant.)

• Amber Heard plans to appeal the verdict in the trial between her and ex Johnny Depp, which came to a close in June and found Heard guilty of defamation.

• News network Al-Jazeera has submitted new evidence in the investigation of the May killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Palestine. In a formal filing with The Hague, the network turned over video footage showing that, in their words, “Shireen and her colleagues were directly fired at by the [IDF]” and “confirms, without any doubt, that there was no firing in the area where Shireen was, other than the [IDF] shooting directly at her.” This is in direct opposition to the IDF’s initial statement that Abu Akleh was accidentally killed in a crossfire between Palestinian militants and IDF soldiers.

• Congratulations to Canada for finally starting its very own professional women’s soccer league!!

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