Protests continued in Tehran late Tuesday with police firing tear gas, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Tehran Governor Mohsen Mansouri accused foreign agents of fomenting violence in the country’s capital and said citizens of three foreign countries were detained during the overnight rallies, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
The riots are the worst in Iran since last year’s street clashes over water shortages and reflect popular discontent not only over women’s rights, but also over security and an economy reeling from international sanctions.
In an apparent effort to defuse tension, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader offered condolences to the family of the woman who died in custody in Tehran after she was detained by morality police for “inadequate dress.”
The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said three people were killed in Kurdistan on Monday when security forces opened fire.
The governor of Kurdistan province confirmed that three people had died, but said the deaths were suspicious and did not name a person responsible.
The death of Mahsa Amini
Mahsa Amini, 22 years old, originally from Kurdistan, she fell into a coma and died while in custody along with other women detained by the morality policewhich enforces the Islamic Republic’s strict rules that require them to cover their hair and wear loose clothing in public.
Amini’s father, who has repeatedly said that his daughter had no health problems and that she had suffered bruises on her legs, blamed the police for her death.
Demonstrations broke out in Kurdistan and spread to other northwestern provinces of Iran. Videos posted on social media have shown demonstrations in several cities, with women waving their scarves and protesters clashing with security forces.
The protests, triggered by Amini’s death, “also shed light on the range of issues ordinary Iranians face every day in relation to security and freedom,” said Sanam Vakil of the Chatham House think tank.
“I don’t think this is an existential challenge to the regime…because the system in Iran has a monopoly on force and a well-honed security strategy that it is already pursuing,” he added.
Source: Ambito
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