Why Iranian women are celebrating the death of President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed this week when his helicopter crashed in poor weather in mountains near the Azerbaijan border.

The charred wreckage of the helicopter which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi, the Foreign Minister and six other passengers and crew was found early on Monday after an overnight search in blizzard conditions.

Usually when a world leader dies, there's a sympathetic response. Not in this case though.

Yes, Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for Raisi. But for many Iranian women, they're not mourning. If anything, they're celebrating. Big time.

Raisi oversaw the brutal crackdown on 2022 protests against the Islamic 'morality police'.

Mahsa Amini was on holiday with her family in the Iranian city of Tehran when she was dragged into a van by the morality police. The 22-year-old was accused of breaking the law, requiring women to cover their hair with a headscarf and wear loose-fitting clothes in public.

Watch: the 2022 protests in Iran. Post continues below.

CCTV footage of the incident, later released by police, shows her collapsing to the ground at the moment of her arrest last week. After being detained, police took Amini to a detention centre to be "educated". According to eyewitnesses at the centre, Amini appeared to have been beaten inside the van. Hours after being arrested, Amini was taken to hospital after falling into a coma.

She died in hospital three days later after her arrest.

Amini's death ignited widespread protests across the country and unleashed an outpouring of anger over issues ranging from freedoms in the Islamic Republic to the crippling economic impacts of sanctions. Women were seen burning their hijabs or cutting their hair in anger.

Footage shared online showed some protesters chanting, "women, life, freedom" and "death to the dictator".

As one Iranian woman, Setareh, previously told Mamamia, Amini's death sparked a "domino effect" and outrage against Raisi.

"When Mahsa Amini died, it was an endgame for everyone. They were like, 'Okay, we don't want to cooperate anymore. You killed one of us and you have to pay for it.' They're not afraid anymore... They're taking their lives into their hands and going out and they're ready for everything," she explained.

"We need our freedom, we need to decide what to wear... [we] want to decide what to do with [our] own body." 

So in the wake of Raisi's death, Iranian women have been posting photos and videos of themselves celebrating to social media.

"We freely dance and celebrate on your dirty grave," one woman, Mersedeh Shahinkar, tweeted.

Shahinkar was with her mother at a protest in Tehran, when a security agent shot a projectile that blinded her in one eye. The image of her bloody face went viral immediately.

The incident sparking international condemnation, Shahinkar says she began to be harassed by the Iranian Government, forcing her and her child to leave the country.

This week Shahinkar filmed herself smiling and dancing alongside Sima Moradbeigi, who lost her right arm after being shot by similar security agents amid the same period of unrest.

Two Iranian women who have faced the brutality of the Islamic regime celebrate the news that President Raisi’s helicopter crashed.

Mersedeh Shahinkar was blinded in one eye while protesting against the Islamic Republic in the aftermath of the 2022 murder of Jina Mahsa Amini.… pic.twitter.com/9dWqbhvsaO

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 20, 2024

They aren't the only people celebrating.

The daughters of Minoo Majidi, a 62-year-old woman killed during the same protests, shared similar footage of themselves sharing a toast.

I am so happy to see smiles on your faces. This is how the daughters of Minoo Majidi, who was killed by the Iranian regime during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, reacted to the news of Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash.
✌️✌️
pic.twitter.com/ypJiIzxD5S

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) May 19, 2024

Masih Alinejad, a renowned Iranian journalist and activist, has also been vocal in the wake of Raisi's death.

She has been sharing additional videos from other women impacted by the Iranian regime, saying many breathed a sigh of relief to know the President could no longer hurt them.

Alinejad shared a video of an Iranian woman and her daughter dancing, after the woman's son was executed on orders from Raisi.

Another Iranian said to the journalist: "I know it is not right to be happy about the death of a person, but they were not human. Congratulations to all the victims' families and people of Iran."

I am so happy to see smiles on your faces. This is how the daughters of Minoo Majidi, who was killed by the Iranian regime during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, reacted to the news of Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crash.
✌️✌️
pic.twitter.com/ypJiIzxD5S

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) May 19, 2024

A UN Human Rights Council report this year found that more than 500 Iranians were killed in the brutal crackdown on the protests, and more than 22,000 were arrested.

Raisi wasn't Iran's top dog per se. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei holds ultimate power with a final say on foreign policy and Iran's nuclear programme. But regardless, Raisi certainly played a role in the demise of women's rights across Iran.

Plus, the President's death comes at a time of growing dissent within Iran over an array of political, social and economic crises.

Amid the Israel-Hamas war, Raisi and the Iranian Government launched an unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel in April. During Raisi's term in office, Iran enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels, further escalating tensions with the West as Tehran also supplied bomb-carrying drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and armed militia groups across the region.

The US had also previously sanctioned Raisi in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 at the end of the bloody Iran-Iraq war.

Of course, the death of Raisi will likely not lead to significant change in Iran. Under the Islamic Republic's constitution, a new presidential election must be held within 50 days.

As a shopkeeper told AAP on the condition of anonymity: "Who cares. One hardliner dies, another takes over and our misery continues. We're too busy with economic and social issues to worry about such news."

With AAP.

 Feature Image: Twitter/Mamamia.