Body count surges as Iranian protests erupt

TEHRAN: Major new protests have erupted in Iran as people mourned victims of a deadly crackdown by the authorities, with police opening fire on stone-throwing protesters.

For more than six weeks Iran has been gripped by protests sparked by the death of a female student, Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the notorious “morality police” over the way she was dressed.

The movement poses the biggest challenge to the hardline Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution.

The clerical leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 83, has responded with a vicious crackdown that as well as killing dozens has led to the arrest of more than 1000 people, many of whom are risking the death penalty simply for opposing the regime.

With the movement showing no signs of abating, the problems for the authorities are compounded by the tradition in Iran of holding a mourning ceremony 40 days after a death, meaning each new killing fuels new protests.

Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said large numbers attended a 40-day ceremony in Karaj west of Tehran mourning the death of Hadis Najafi, a 22-year-old woman who activists say was murdered by security forces in September.

IHR said police had blocked the highway leading to the cemetery to prevent even larger numbers attending while military helicopters patrolled above.

“This year is the year of blood, Seyyed Ali (Khamenei) will be toppled,” the video showed them chanting.

The monitoring channel 1500tasvir posted pictures from Karaj of a large column of people clashing with the heavily armed police.

Security forces had also opened fire on the protesters, the channel said.

A member of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force and two other unidentified people were killed, and 10 police officers and a cleric were injured during the clashes in Karaj, state media said.

Similar mourning ceremonies were held in several other cities including Arak, in central Iran, where IHR said large crowds shouted “freedom!” in memory of protest victim Mehrshad Shahidi.

Kurdish rights organisation Hengaw said police had arrested the father of Komar Daroftadeh, 16, who it said was shot and killed by police in Piranshahr in western Iran. The father, Hasan, had at his son’s funeral denounced the security forces who he said showed “no mercy”.