Protests have continued in several Iranian cities, including Tehran, amid months of unrest triggered by the death of a young woman arrested by Iran’s notorious morality police for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly.
Protesters in Tehran’s Ekbatan neighborhood chanted from windows and rooftops, “Death to the dictator,” in apparent reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Similar scenes were reported from other neighborhoods of Tehran, as well as in the cities of Amol, Kelachay, Bojnurd, and Hamedan.
Several videos published on social networks showed people in the northern province of Gilan setting fire to government propaganda banners for the 44th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that brought Iran’s clerical rulers to power.
The unrest was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 in custody after being arrested for the alleged “improper” wearing of the mandatory Islamic head scarf, or hijab.
Her death, which officials blamed on a heart attack, touched off a wave of anti-government protests in cities across the country. The authorities have met the unrest with a harsh crackdown that rights groups say has killed more than 500 people, including 71 children.
Thousands, including students, journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, have been detained and given stiff sentences, including the death penalty.
Others have faced sentences such as imprisonment and flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.
The regime, which has blamed the West for orchestrating the demonstrations, has vowed to crack down even harder on protesters, with the judiciary leading the way after the unrest entered a fourth month.
The protests pose the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.
Source » rferl