Protests back in Zahedan and Tehran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A southeastern city in Iran that was the scene of a bloody crackdown last month awoke to new destruction on Saturday, state TV showed, after tensions erupted the day before.

Witnesses said antigovernment protests also erupted at several universities in Tehran amid heavy security on Saturday, the latest unrest in the nationwide movement first sparked by the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police.

Although the protests across Iran first focused on the country’s mandatory hijab, they have transformed into the greatest challenge to the Islamic Republic since the 2009 Green Movement over disputed elections. Security forces have dispersed gatherings with live ammunition and tear gas, leaving over 200 people dead, according to rights groups.

In Zahedan, a southeastern city with an ethnic Baluch population, protests after Friday prayers left the city battered. Shops gaped open to the street, their windows smashed.

Violence first broke out in the restive city of Zahedan on Sept. 30 after allegations that a Baluch teenager had been raped by a police officer, fueling deep tensions in the underdeveloped region home to minority Sunni Muslims in the Shiite theocracy.

With anger simmering over the deadly crackdown, unrest in the city flared again Friday.

Security was also exceptionally tight on the streets of Tehran on Saturday. Riot police and members of the Basij militia, armed with batons, were out in force near Tehran University and at major intersections in the capital.