The move appeared to be a concession to the protest movement that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was being held by the morality police for supposedly violating Islamic dress rules.
These protesters risked a lot more and went a lot harder than any western protesters in recent memory, due to how much higher they feel the stakes are compared to Western activists and how much more community solidarity they have with each other.
Almost every protest anywhere not in the West goes harder because there's US government people pushing them to literally get themselves killed as a propaganda tool for the West, or generally in service to overthrowing the government. There a video interview with a protest leader from the 1980s Tienanmen Square protest who was on US payroll who basically admitted as much. And people can get away with more in other countries because they don't have the same degree of control that the US government has in the US.
These protesters risked a lot more and went a lot harder than any western protesters in recent memory, due to how much higher they feel the stakes are compared to Western activists and how much more community solidarity they have with each other.
Almost every protest anywhere not in the West goes harder because there's US government people pushing them to literally get themselves killed as a propaganda tool for the West, or generally in service to overthrowing the government. There a video interview with a protest leader from the 1980s Tienanmen Square protest who was on US payroll who basically admitted as much. And people can get away with more in other countries because they don't have the same degree of control that the US government has in the US.