Protests continued in several cities across Iran on Thursday over the death of a young woman in police custody, state and social media reported, as a rights group said at least 83 people had been killed in nearly two weeks of demonstrations. Mahsa Amini, 22, from the Iranian Kurdish city of Saqez, was arrested in Tehran this month for “inappropriate clothing” by morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.
Her death sparked the first major opposition on Iran’s streets since authorities crushed protests against rAt least 83 people, including children, have been confirmed killed in () #IranProtests,” Iran Human Rights, a Norwegian group, said on Twitter. Despite the rising death toll and a crackdown by the authorities, videos posted on Twitter showed protesters calling for the downfall of the clerical establishment in Tehran, Qom, Rasht, Sanandaj, Masjed-i-Suleiman and other cities.
State television said police had arrested a large number of “rioters”, without giving numbers. Human rights groups said dozens of activists, students and artists had been detained, and the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Twitter it had learned that security forces had arrested at least 28 journalists as of September 29.
Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister said Thursday she wants the European Union to impose sanctions on Iran following Amini’s death. In Norway, several people tried to enter the Iranian embassy in Oslo during an angry demonstration that left two people with minor injuries, Norwegian police said. Police detained 95 people, public broadcaster reported.
President Ebrahim Raisi said the unrest was the latest move by hostile Western powers against Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution. “The enemies have made miscalculations in the face of Islamic Iran for 43 years, imagining that Iran is a weak country that can be controlled,” Raisi said on state television.
