Protests over woman’s death spread to every city

Protests over the death of a young woman in police custody have spread to every major Iranian city, with reports of more than two dozen people killed in the resulting violence.

The demonstrations began as an emotional outpouring over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old held by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code, because the black headscarf she wore showed too much hair.

The police say she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family doubt that.

Starting in Amini’s native Kurdistan, after security forces fired on marchers at her funeral, the protests have swept north to south.

In southeastern Kerman, a woman sat in the street before a baying crowd and CUT off her ponytail as men and women shouted: “Death to the dictator!”

In Tehran women were pictured throwing their headscarves on to burning tyres.

Iranian state TV reported the deaths, saying: “Unfortunately, 26 people and police officers present at the scene of these events lost their lives.”

Official statistics will be released later.