Iranian authorities confirmed on Tuesday that three people were killed during unrest over the death of a young woman in police custody, but sought to deflect blame from security forces by saying the killings of protesters were “suspicious.”
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 emissary told the family that “measures will be taken” and that Ayatollah Khamenei was “saddened” by this death. “As I promised the Amini family, I will follow this case to the end,” he said.
This is what we know about the protests and about women’s rights in Iran.
What is known about the case of Mahsa Amini?
Mahsa Amini, 22, originally from Kurdistan, slipped into a coma and died while in custody along with other women detained by the morality police, which enforces the Islamic Republic’s strict rules that require them to cover their hair and wear loose clothing in public.
The young woman was arrested on Tuesday, September 13, by the so-called Morale Police in Tehran, where she was visiting, and transferred to a police station to attend “an hour of re-education” for wearing the hijab, the Islamic veil, wrongly.
Hours later she was admitted to Kasra Hospital in the capital in a coma after suffering a heart attack. He died Friday in hospital, after spending three days in a coma.
According to the Iranian authorities, the young woman died of natural causes, but according to information released by activists and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, she was violently beaten on the head and against a police vehicle.
His case has raised a wave of indignation in the country. “Many protesters think that Mahsa died under torture,” the Fars agency said on Monday.
Tehran police say “there was no physical contact” between the officers and the girl.
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.
Tehran Police Chief Hossein Rahimi on Monday described Amini’s death as “an unfortunate incident” and said it is false that the young woman was beaten or ill-treated in police custody.
“It is an unfortunate incident and we hope there will be no similar incidents,” Rahimi told a news conference.
How is the situation of women in Iran?
The government of Iran’s ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisí has in recent months increased pressure on women to abide by strict dress rules.
The veil has been mandatory since the 1979 revolution led by Ayatollah Ruholá Khomeiní, who declared that without it women were “naked”. The ban applies to girls from the age of 7 and to women.
Iran’s “moral” police police the entire female population—some 40 million people. The officers drive all over the city, and they have the power to stop any woman and examine her clothing, carefully studying how many strands of hair she has showing, the length of her pants and coat, and the amount of makeup she is wearing.
The punishment for being seen without a veil in public can be arrest, imprisonment, a fine or lashes, according to a report by Amnesty International.
“Even when a woman wears her hair covered with a veil, she may be considered not to be in compliance with the dress code if, for example, she exposes a few strands of hair or her clothing is deemed too colorful or too tight,” points out a report published in 2019.
How have the protests been?
Demonstrations broke out in Kurdistan on September 16 and spread to other provinces in northwestern Iran. Videos posted on social media have shown demonstrations in several cities, with women waving their scarves and protesters clashing with security forces.
Fars reported that police officers resorted to force in the face of protests in the capital in which protesters chanted slogans against Iranian leaders and women removed their veils, which are mandatory in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Some 300 people demonstrated on Keshavarz Boulevard, located in the center of the capital, where they threw stones at the police and burned containers, according to Fars, an agency close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Iranian journalists shared videos on social networks in which they observed strong clashes between protesters and police officers, supported by “basijis” (Islamic volunteers), but their authenticity has not been verified. In some of them shots are heard.
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.
This Tuesday, the Governor of Kurdistan Ismail Zarei Koosha spoke of three “suspicious” deaths during the demonstrations, and of a “plot promoted by the enemy”, assuring that one of the victims died by a different type of weapon than the one used by the forces. Iranian security officials, according to Fars.
Internet access was restricted in various parts of the country.
“There has been a significant internet drop in Tehran,” said the NetBlocks platform, which monitors user connectivity and network censorship.
With information from AFP, EFE and Reuters
