Iran has largely crushed protests, but a spirit of defiance still burns

In her high school classroom in northwest Iran, the math teacher strives to ensure that her female students don’t lose sight of what they achieved taking part in unprecedented anti-regime street protests – even if those protests have now largely been crushed.

“There is no doubt the protests have fizzled out,” says the teacher in the city of Sanandaj, epicenter of the protests in Iran’s largely Kurdish northwest, where officials used direct military force to quell dissent.

“Look around, except for the 40th day [funeral] memorials, few rallies are being...