“Hijab revolution” in Iran: Protesters set fire to police stations – Reports of 10 dead in the incidents

Protesters in Tehran and in several other Iranian cities police stations and vehicles were torched on Thursday as unrest sparked by the death of a woman arrested by the Islamic Republic’s morality police intensified for a sixth day.

22-year-old Mahsa Amini she died last week after being arrested by Tehran’s morality police for wearing “inappropriate clothing”. He fell into a coma while in custody. Authorities said they would launch an investigation into the cause of death.

Amini’s death sparked wild protests, the worst in Iran from 2019.

Most have been concentrated in Iran’s Kurdish-populated northwestern regions, but have spread to the capital and at least 50 cities and towns across the country, with police using force to disperse protesters.

In the northeast, protesters chanted “we will die, we will die, but we will take back Iran” near a police station that was set on fire, according to a video posted on Twitter but not verified by Reuters.

Another police station was set on fire in Tehran as the unrest spread from the Kurdish areas where Amini was from.

Iran’s government fears a revival of the 2019 protests over gasoline price hikes, the bloodiest in the Islamic Republic’s history. Reuters reported that 1,500 people had been killed.

Protesters also expressed anger at Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “Mojtaba, may you die and not become Supreme Leader,” a crowd was seen chanting in Tehran, referring to Khamenei’s son, who some believe could succeed his father at the top of Iran’s political establishment.

Reports from Kurdish human rights group Hengaw, which Reuters could not verify, said three protesters were killed by security forces on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 10.

Officials denied that security forces killed protesters, suggesting they may have been shot by armed dissidents.

With no sign of the protests easing, authorities have clamped down on internet access, according to accounts from Hengaw, residents and internet shutdown watchdog NetBlocks.

Amini’s death has sparked outrage across Iran over issues such as freedoms in the Islamic Republic and an economy reeling under sanctions.

Women played a prominent role in the protests, waving and burning their veils, with some cutting their hair in public.

In northern Iran, mobs armed with clubs and stones attacked two members of the security forces on a motorcycle as the crowd cheered, according to video footage that Reuters could not verify.

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