The warning was a clear indication that the elite force is ready to step up its crackdown on the protests. Protesters in Tehran and other Iranian cities torched police stations and vehicles earlier Thursday as public outrage over the death showed no signs of abating, with reports of security forces coming under attack. Mahsa Amini, 22, died last week after being arrested in Tehran for wearing “inappropriate clothing”. He fell into a coma while in custody. Authorities said they would launch an investigation into the cause of her death. In a statement, the Guard expressed its sympathy to Amini’s family and relatives. “We have asked the judiciary to identify those spreading false news and rumors on social media as well as on the street and who are endangering the psychological safety of society and deal decisively with them,” said the Guard, which has cracked down on the protests. . in the past.
More protests are expected
Women played a prominent role in the protests, waving and burning their veils, with some cutting their hair in public. Pro-government protests are planned for Friday and some protesters have already taken to the streets, Iranian media reported. Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejay ordered swift action in the rioters’ case to “maintain the safety and peace of citizens,” Tasnim news agency reported. The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police, accusing them of abuse and violence against Iranian women and violating the rights of peaceful Iranian protesters, the US Treasury Department said. The protests over Amini’s death are the largest in the Islamic Republic since 2019. Most have been concentrated in Iran’s Kurdish northwest, but have spread to the capital and at least 50 cities and towns across the country, with police to use violence to disperse the protesters. Amini was from Kurdistan province. A panel of UN experts, including Javaid Rehman, special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and Mary Lawlor, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, called for accountability for Amini’s death. “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Ms. Amini. She is another victim of the ongoing repression and systematic discrimination against women in Iran and the imposition of discriminatory dress codes that deprive women of their physical autonomy and freedoms of opinion, expression and belief,” the experts said in a statement. New mobile internet outages were reported in the country, internet monitoring group Netblocks wrote on Twitter, in a possible sign that authorities fear the protests will intensify. WATCHES | Top UN official calls for independent investigation into Mahsa Amini’s death:
Top UN official calls for independent investigation into Mahsa Amini’s death
On Twitter, WhatsApp said it was working to keep Iranian users connected, adding that it was not blocking Iranian numbers. A member of an Iranian pro-government paramilitary group, the Basij, was stabbed to death in the northeastern city of Mashhad on Wednesday, two semi-official Iranian news agencies reported on Thursday. Reports of the stabbing by news agencies Tasnim and Fars appeared on social media platform Telegram as both their websites were down on Thursday. There was no official confirmation of the death.
Police stations were set on fire, security personnel were killed
Tasnim said another Basij member was killed on Wednesday in Qazvin city as a result of a gunshot wound caused by “rioters and gangs”. Nour news, a media outlet linked to a top security body, shared a video of an army officer confirming the death of a soldier in the riots, bringing the total reported number of security forces killed in the riots to five. An official from Mazandaran said 76 members of the security forces were injured in the province during the unrest, while the Kurdistan Police Commander said more than 100 security forces were wounded. In the northeast, protesters chanted, “We will die, we will die, but we will take back Iran,” near a police station, which was set on fire, a video posted on the 1500tasvir Twitter account showed. The account focuses on the protests in Iran and has around 100,000 followers. Reuters was unable to verify the video.
Personal freedoms
Amini’s death has reignited anger over issues such as restrictions on personal freedoms in Iran — including strict dress codes for women — and an economy reeling from economic sanctions. Iran’s clerical rulers fear a revival of the 2019 protests that broke out over petrol price hikes, the bloodiest in the Islamic Republic’s history. Reuters reported that 1,500 people were killed. Protesters this week also expressed anger at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Mojtaba, may you die and not become Supreme Leader,” a crowd was seen chanting in Tehran, referring to Khamenei’s son, who some believe could succeed his father at the top of Iran’s political establishment. Reuters was unable to verify the video. WATCHES | Mahsa Amini’s death sparked global protests:
The death of Iranian Mahsa Amini in custody has sparked global protests
Reports by the Kurdish rights group Hengaw, which Reuters also could not verify, put the death toll in Kurdish areas at 15 and the number of wounded at 733. Iranian officials denied that security forces had killed any protesters, implying that they may have been shot by armed dissidents. According to a count Thursday by The Associated Press, based on statements from Iran’s state and semi-official media, at least nine people have died as a result of the protests. In northern Iran, mobs armed with clubs and stones attacked two members of the security forces on a motorcycle as the crowd cheered, according to footage Reuters could not verify.
