As protests against the regime continue across the nation for the second month in a row, members of an Iranian opposition organization living in exile have requested that the West increase pressure on Tehran.
During a meeting in Washington, the National Council of Resistance of Iran suggested that Western countries should order the closure of all Iranian embassies and impose harsher sanctions on the government.
The latest wave of demonstrations began immediately after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, on September 16. She had been detained three days before by the so-called morality police for failing to obey rigorous laws about women's clothing.
It is widely believed that her death was the result of a beating by officers. The Iranian government denies that this was the case but outraged citizens are not convinced and have been taking to the streets in protest for weeks, prompting a brutal crackdown by security forces that has resulted in many deaths, injuries, and arrests.
Iran has been ruled by its religious establishment since a revolution in 1979 that toppled the ruling, pro-Western shah. Women in the country are required to conform to government restrictions on Western-style clothes, dress modestly and cover their hair with a hijab in public.
During a meeting in Washington, the National Council of Resistance of Iran suggested that Western countries should order the closure of all Iranian embassies and impose harsher sanctions on the government.
The latest wave of demonstrations began immediately after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, on September 16. She had been detained three days before by the so-called morality police for failing to obey rigorous laws about women's clothing.
It is widely believed that her death was the result of a beating by officers. The Iranian government denies that this was the case but outraged citizens are not convinced and have been taking to the streets in protest for weeks, prompting a brutal crackdown by security forces that has resulted in many deaths, injuries, and arrests.
Iran has been ruled by its religious establishment since a revolution in 1979 that toppled the ruling, pro-Western shah. Women in the country are required to conform to government restrictions on Western-style clothes, dress modestly and cover their hair with a hijab in public.
