A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran Sept.19, 2022. (Credit: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)
DUBAI — Students rallied at universities across Iran on Saturday, and strikes were reported throughout the country's Kurdish region, as demonstrations ignited by the death of a woman in police custody entered their third week.
The protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan, have spiraled into the biggest show of opposition to Iran's clerical authorities since 2019, with dozens of people killed in unrest across the country. Social media posts showed rallies at numerous universities on Saturday, including in the capital Tehran, with some students demanding the release of students detained in previous protests.
The widely-followed Tavsir1500 Twitter account said dozens of Tehran University students were detained during Saturday's demonstration. The semi-official Fars news agency said some protesters were arrested in a square near Tehran university. Tavsir1500 also posted what it said was a video taken at the gates of Isfahan University during which shots could be heard. Reuters could not verify the social media reports.
A government website had earlier reported that most detained students had been released, citing an education ministry spokesperson. Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 in Tehran for "unsuitable attire" by the morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.
The protests, which first erupted at Amini's funeral on Sept. 17, have spread through Iran's 31 provinces and all layers of society, including ethnic and religious minorities. Amnesty International said a government crackdown on demonstrations has so far led to the death of at least 52 people, with hundreds injured. Rights groups say dozens of activists, students and artists have been detained.
Iranian authorities say many members of security forces have also been killed, accusing the United States of exploiting the unrest to try to destabilize the country. State media have branded protesters as "rioters" and "seditionists."
Attack in Zahedan
The Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by Iranian media that four members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia were killed Friday in attacks in Zahedan, capital of the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.
State television said Friday that 19 people, including members of the security forces, were killed in Zahedan after unidentified armed individuals opened fire on a police station, prompting security forces to return fire. A lawmaker from Zahedan said security was restored to the city on Saturday, a semi-official news agency reported.
Authorities blamed a separatist group from the Baluchi minority for starting the shootout in Zahedan. State media said two prominent militants linked to that group were killed. IRNA posted a video showing destroyed cars, an overturned and burning trailer or bus, and fires in burnt out buildings and shops. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.
Protests have been particularly intense in Iran's Kurdistan region, where authorities previously put down unrest by the country's Kurdish minority. Fearing an ethnic uprising, and in a show of power, Iran fired missiles and attacked targets in neighboring northern Iraq's Kurdish region this week after accusing Iranian Kurdish dissidents of being involved in the unrest.
Shops and businesses were on strike in 20 northwestern cities and towns on Saturday to protest attacks on Iraq-based armed Kurdish opposition parties by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the Kurdish rights group Hengaw reported. It also said security forces fired at protesters in Dehgolan and Saqez.
A video posted by Hengaw showed men speeding on motorbikes through a street with shuttered shops, describing them as "repressive forces on the streets of Saqez," Amini's hometown.
Reporting contributed by Tom Perry.