World in Photos: One woman’s death sparks unrest and a crackdown across Iran

It’s always difficult to know when a single incident will spark dissent or widespread protest. No one could have imagined that the self-immolation of a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi would lead ultimately to the 2011 revolutions that came to be known as the Arab Spring.

Impossible, too, to judge the lasting impact of protests that have followed the death of a 22-year-old woman in Iranian police custody. But it’s clear that a “spark” has been lit — and that it’s causing fires in other parts of Iran.

Beyond their scope, the protests are significant because they are no longer exclusively about Mahsa Amini, or even the excesses of the morality police. While women have burned their own headscarves to protest the law, others who’ve taken to the streets are calling for an end to the Islamic republic — even “death to the supreme leader,” an unheard-of epithet (at least in public) in today’s Iran.