Video Producer: Akanksha Pandey
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The brave women of Iran have been named TIME magazine's 'Heroes Of the Year' for leading mass protests across the country over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
The magazine cover featured three unveiled young Iranian women with locked arms – signifying defiance of the country's rulers over the mandatory hijab rule.
Why this matters: The protests began in September but has now snowballed into a fight against the country's administration for human rights.
Iran Human Rights estimated on 7 December that at least 458 people, including 63 children, have been killed since the protests began.
What it said: Iranian-American writer Azadeh Moaveni, in her tribute piece on TIME, amplified the significance of women's role in the country's past protests while also highlighting how different yet similar the current protests are.
"These younger women are now in the streets. The movement they’re leading is educated, liberal, secular, raised on higher expectations, and desperate for normality: college and foreign travel, decent jobs, rule of law, access to the Apple Store, a meaningful role in politics, the freedom to say and wear whatever."Moaveni wrote in TIME
In other news: TIME magazine named both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and "the spirit of Ukraine" as its 2022 person of the year for the fight put up by the country against Russia's invasion.
"Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, Volodymyr Zelensky galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades," TIME's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote, announcing the winner.
"His information offensive shifted the geopolitical weather system, setting off a wave of action that swept the globe," Felsenthal added.
Looking back: TIME has been naming 'Person Of the Year' since 1927.
In the recent past, the magazine has named Elon Musk (2021), President Biden and Vice President Harris (2020), Greta Thunberg (2019), the Guardians (2018), the Silence Breakers (2017), and Donald Trump (2016) as 'Person Of the Year'.
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