Paris:
Iranians took to the streets for the tenth night in a row on Sunday, despite a warning from the judiciary, to protest the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police moral custody.
According to an official toll, at least 41 people have died since the unrest, mostly protesters, but also members of the Islamic republic’s security forces, although other sources say the real number is higher.
Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group said the toll was at least 57 on Sunday night, but noted that ongoing internet outages made it increasingly difficult to confirm fatalities in a context where women-led protests have proliferated in recent nights. to dozens of cities.
Following a warning from President Ebrahim Raisi the previous day, Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Sunday stressed “the need for decisive action without leniency” against the main instigators of the “riots,” according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online website. .
Hundreds of protesters, reformist activists and journalists have been arrested in the mostly nighttime demonstrations since the first riots broke out after Amini’s death on September 16.
Amini, whose Kurdish first name was Jhina, was detained three days earlier for allegedly violating rules that require tight-fitting hijab headgear, which include ripped jeans and brightly colored clothing.
Footage distributed by IHL shows protesters on the streets of Tehran shouting “death to the dictator” ostensibly after nightfall on Sunday.
Witnesses told AFP that protests were underway in several locations.
‘Rolling blackouts’
In the largest protests in Iran in nearly three years, security forces have shot live rounds and birds, denounce rights groups, while protesters have hurled stones, set fire to police cars and set fire to state buildings.
Some Iranian female protesters have removed and burned their hijabs during the rallies and cut their hair, some dance at huge bonfires to the applause of crowds chanting “zan, zendgi, azadi” or “woman, life, freedom”.
The world is largely aware of the violence from shaky mobile phone images posted on social media, even as authorities have restricted internet access.
Web monitor NetBlocks noted “rolling blackouts” and “widespread internet platform restrictions”, with WhatsApp, Instagram and Skype already blocked.
This followed older bans on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram.
Protests have been held abroad in solidarity with Iranian women in Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul, Madrid, New York and Paris, among others.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell deplored the security forces’ response to the unrest at the end of Sunday as “disproportionate… unjustifiable and unacceptable”.
Iran – ruled by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 83, and hit by severe economic sanctions over its nuclear program – has blamed “foreign plots” for the unrest.
The Foreign Office said on Sunday it had summoned the British ambassador over what it described as an “invitation to riot” by Farsi-speaking media in London, and the Norwegian envoy over “unconstructive comments” by his country’s parliament speaker.
State Department spokesman Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticized “the US interventionist approach to Iran’s affairs…including the provocative actions in support of the rioters”.
Pro-Government Meeting
Iran has also staged major demonstrations in defense of the hijab and conservative values.
Pro-government rallies were held on Sunday, the main event of which took place in the Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, where protesters expressed support for mandatory hijab laws.
“Martyrs died so we could get this hijab on our heads,” protester Nafiseh, 28, said, adding that she was against making wearing the hijab voluntary.
Another protester, 21-year-old student Atyieh, called for “vigorous action against the people leading the protests”.
However, Iran’s main reformist group, the Islamic Iranian People’s Party’s Union, has called for the repeal of the mandatory dress code.
Human rights groups based abroad have sought to shed light on the unrest that is rocking Iran, citing their own sources in the country.
IHR reported on Sunday that an umbrella organization of Iranian teachers’ unions called on teachers and students to boycott Monday and Wednesday classes in support of the protests.
Iranian authorities have not yet released the cause of death for Amini, who according to activists died as a result of a blow to the head.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said that Amini was not beaten and that “we have to wait for the final verdict of the medical examiner”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)