Iran: Iranian security forces kept attacking people who were protesting the death of a 22-year-old woman after she was arrested by morality police on Thursday. According to the news agency AFP, at least 31 civilians have been killed since the violent clashes began.
Despite the fact that Iran is at the center of worldwide condemnation and statewide protests, the country’s Revolutionary Guards have called on the Islamic Republic’s court to investigate “those who propagate false news and rumors” about the woman whose death in police custody sparked the rallies. As anger over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last week didn’t seem to be going away, protesters in Tehran and other cities in Iran set fire to police stations and cars.
According to media accounts, Amini, who was seized by Iran’s morality police for wearing “unsuitable clothes,” was tortured in detention and died three days later. However, Iranian police have denied mistreating Amini and claim she died of a heart attack. Authorities say they are looking into the event.
Apart from expressing condolences to Amini’s family and relatives, the guards added in a statement, “We have requested the judiciary to identify and deal with individuals who propagate false news and falsehoods on social media as well as on the street and risk the psychological safety of society.”.
Meanwhile, the United States sanctioned Iran’s morality police, accusing them of abuse and brutality against Iranian women as well as breaching the rights of nonviolent Iranian protestors, according to the US Treasury. The Treasury also sanctioned the chiefs of the Iranian army’s ground troops and morality police, as well as Iran’s intelligence minister. It blamed the morality police for Amini’s death.
In the last four days, the protests have evolved into an open challenge to the regime, with women removing their state-mandated headscarves in the streets and Iranians lighting trash bins on fire and chanting for the Islamic Republic’s demise. “Death to the dictator!” has been a regular protest chant.
According to foreign media reports, the protests over Amini’s death are the largest in the Islamic Republic since 2019. Most of the protests have been in the northwest of Iran, where there are a lot of Kurds. However, they have spread to Tehran and at least 50 other cities and towns around the country, and police have used force to get rid of the protesters.
Security personnel death
Nour news, a media site linked with a key security organization, published a video of an army official announcing the death of a soldier in the unrest on Thursday, increasing the total number of security force members killed in the disturbance to five. According to a Mazandaran official, 76 members of the security forces were hurt in the province during the turmoil, while Kurdistan’s police commander stated that more than 100 security officers were injured.
To prevent the protests from escalating further, authorities have implemented internet restrictions across the country. According to the internet monitoring group Netblocks, Iran is presently subject to the most severe internet restrictions since the November 2019 massacre, with mobile networks generally shut down (MCI, Rightel, Irancell-partially) and Instagram and WhatsApp limitations.
World reaction
The UN’s human rights office has requested a probe into Amini’s death. According to the UN, Iran’s morality police have increased patrols in recent months, targeting women who do not properly wear the Islamic headscarf or hijab. It went on to say that women were slapped in the face, hit with batons, and forced into police trucks for wearing the hijab too loosely.
The US, which is attempting to resurrect the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, has urged the Islamic Republic to halt its “systemic oppression” of women. Italy also sentenced her to death. Officials in Iran said that the criticism was political in nature and that unnamed foreign countries were stirring up trouble.
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