CCTV footage released by Iran’s state media appeared to show her collapsing at a “re-education” center where she had been taken by morality police to receive “guidance” on how to dress.
“The incident was unfortunate for us and we wish to never witness such incidents,” Greater Tehran Police Commander Hossein Rahimi said during a press conference on Monday.
Rahimi said that “false accusations” had been made against Iranian police and that Amini was not physically harmed during and after her arrest.
He added that police had “done everything” to keep her alive.
Iranian officials said Amini died of a “heart attack” after her arrest on Tuesday, but her family says she had no pre-existing heart condition, according to Emtedad news, a pro-reform Iranian media outlet that reportedly spoke to Amini’s father.
Students took to the streets on Monday in Tehran, demanding justice and accountability for Amini’s death, as protesters clashed with police in towns in northwestern Kurdistan over the weekend, semi-official news agencies reported.
A video circulating on social media showed women in Tehran removing their hijabs and waving them while chanting “death to the dictator” on Monday. Another video showed a motorcycle burning in an area of the road near where the judiciary is located in the capital.
Fars, a state-run news agency, released a video showing protesters demonstrating in the Kurdistan provincial capital Sanadai late Sunday and chanting slogans against officials.
According to Fars, the protesters were “unconvinced” by the police’s justification for Amini’s death, saying she died “under torture”.
Security forces fired tear gas at protesters following Amini’s funeral ceremony in her hometown of Saqqez on Saturday, Fars reported, while protesters demanding answers reportedly threw stones at the governor’s office, semi-official Mehr News reported.
At least 38 people were injured during protests in both cities, according to a report released Sunday by Hengaw Human Rights, a Norwegian organization that monitors rights abuses in Iran.
US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Maley tweeted on Friday calling on Iran to “end inappropriate violence against women for exercising their fundamental rights”.
“Those responsible for her death should be held accountable,” he added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said it “categorically rejects any intrusive statements by the US authorities regarding Iran’s internal affairs.”
“If the US government is concerned about the Iranian nation, it should lift the decades-long harsh, unilateral and illegal blockade against the Iranian nation,” he added.
