Fury of Iran’s women
‘Six killed’ as protests spread over hijab row girl who died after arrest by morality police
AT least six protesters are said to have been killed in Iran following the death of a young woman at the hands of the fundamentalist regime’s feared morality police.
Demonstrations have spread across the country, with women burning their headscarves in public since authorities revealed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab in an ‘improper’ way.
Iranian security forces were also accused of using live ammunition at the protests.
Activists claim Miss Amini suffered a fatal blow to the head while being held, which was denied by officials who said they could clamp down on internet access in a bid to stop news of the demonstrations spreading further.
Some female protesters took off their hijabs and threw them on bonfires, or symbolically cut their hair before cheering crowds, videos spread on social media have shown. ‘No to the headscarf, no to the turban, yes to freedom and equality,’ protesters in Tehran were heard chanting.
Solidarity protests have also taken place abroad, including in New York and Istanbul.
Iranian state media reported yesterday that, in the fifth night of unrest, police used tear gas and made arrests to disperse crowds of up to 1,000 people. Meanwhile, London-based rights group Article 19 said it was ‘deeply concerned by reports of the unlawful use of force by Iranian police and security forces’, including the use of live ammunition.
Protesters hurled stones at security forces, set fire to police vehicles and bins, and chanted antigovernment slogans, the official IRNA news agency said, adding that rallies were held in cities including Mashhad, Tabriz, Isfahan and Shiraz.
Demonstrators could be heard shouting: ‘Death to the dictator’ and ‘Woman, life, freedom’ in video footage that spread beyond Iran, despite online restrictions.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke publicly yesterday, but did not mention the spreading unrest.
Ismail Zarei Koosha, governor of the Kurdistan province – where Miss Amini lived and the protests started – said three people had been killed, but blamed ‘a plot by the enemy’.
Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw – which first reported the deaths – said yesterday that two more protesters had been killed overnight in the towns of Piranshahr and Urmia, both in West Azerbaijan province.
Another male protester, who was wounded in Divandarreh on Saturday, died from his injuries in hospital.
Video footage also spread online showing security forces opening fire on crowds in the southern city of Shiraz.
Miss Amini’s death and Iran’s response to the anger it provoked have sparked condemnation from the United Nations, the United States, France and other countries. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has condemned what he called ‘foreign interventionist positions’.
Article 19 said it was ‘alarmed by the local internet shutdowns’, recalling that in 2019 authorities ‘used a shutdown to kill, maim and arrest protesters’.
British foreign office minister Lord Ahmad said yesterday: ‘Britain is extremely concerned at reports of serious mistreatment by Iranian security forces of a 22-year-old woman.
‘We urge the Iranian government to investigate her death with rigour and transparency.’