A member of the security forces among the dead Unrest has swept Iran since a young woman died in custody Video on social media shows new protest at Tehran University
DUBAI, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Three people, including a member of the security forces, were killed during unrest sweeping the country, Iranian authorities said on Wednesday, as anger over the death of a woman in custody sparked a fifth day of protests. . Human rights groups said at least one more person was killed on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to at least seven. The death last week of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran for “improper clothing”, has sparked outrage over issues such as freedoms in the Islamic Republic and the sanctions-ridden economy. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up After starting on Saturday at Amini’s funeral in Iran’s Kurdistan province, protests have engulfed much of the country, sparking clashes as security forces try to quell them. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not mention the protests – some of Iran’s worst unrest since street clashes last year over water shortages – during a speech on Wednesday commemorating the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. read more A top Khamenei aide offered his condolences to Amini’s family this week, vowing to pursue the case and saying the Supreme Leader was affected and pained by her death. The official IRNA news agency reported that a “police assistant” died of injuries on Tuesday in the southern city of Shiraz. “Some people clashed with policemen and as a result one of the police assistants was killed. In this incident, four other policemen were injured,” IRNA reported. An official quoted by IRNA said 15 protesters were arrested in Shiraz. In Kermanshah, the city’s prosecutor said two people were killed Tuesday in riots. “We are certain that this was done by counter-revolutionary elements because the victims were killed by weapons not used by the security apparatus,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted prosecutor Shahram Karami as saying. Two Kurdish human rights groups – Hengaw and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network – said a 43-year-old man was killed by security forces on Tuesday in Urmia, a city in West Azerbaijan province. There has been no official confirmation of this death. Amini fell into a coma and died while waiting with other women detained by the morality police, who enforce strict rules in the Islamic Republic that require women to cover their hair and wear loose clothing in public. A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police”, in Tehran, Iran September 19, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS /File photo read more Her father said she had no health problems and bruised her legs while in custody and holds the police responsible for her death. Police denied harming her.
TEHRAN RALLY
Women were heavily involved in the protests, with many waving or burning their veils or cutting their hair in public. Videos shared on social media also show protesters destroying symbols of the Islamic Republic. One showed a man climbing the facade of the city hall in the northern city of Shari and tearing down a statue of Ayatollah Khomeini, who established Iran’s Islamist government after the 1979 revolution. People gathered again on Wednesday in Tehran, with hundreds chanting “death to the dictator” at Tehran University, a video shared by 1500tasvir showed. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the videos. Hengaw, the Kurdish rights group, said the internet was completely down in Kurdistan province, where protests have been particularly intense and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have a history of suppressing riots. It also reported the death of another man killed on Tuesday in Piranshahr, also in West Azerbaijan province, while another died of injuries sustained on Monday in Saqez, Amini’s hometown. There has been no official confirmation of these deaths. Hengaw said all the civilians it reported killed were Kurds. The governor of Kurdistan Province blamed the deaths of three men in Kurdistan Province on unspecified terrorist groups. Hengaw said they were killed when security forces opened fire. Tehran’s governor said authorities had identified 1,800 people with “a history of participating in previous riots, including 700 who have important records in various police, insurance and judicial institutions.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report from Dubai Newsroom. Written by Tom Perry Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, William Maclean Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
