Mahsha Amini, 22, died three days after she was arrested in Tehran by morality police, who accused her of not fully covering her hair, thus violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.
Traders and workers in several cities of Iran took part in strikes yesterday Saturday, in the context of the mass mobilizations that broke out more than a month ago on the occasion of the death of the young Iranian Kurdish origin Makhsa Amini, NGOs said.
Mahsha Amini, 22, died three days after she was arrested in Tehran by morality police, who accused her of not fully covering her hair, thus violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.
The crackdown on mass demonstrations, Iran’s largest since 2019 against rising fuel prices, has killed at least 122 people, including children, according to Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Iran. Oslo.
Thousands of Iranian women, many with their heads uncovered, are at the forefront of the protest movement, chanting slogans against the clerical regime and not hesitating to clash with security forces.
New protests were organized yesterday, but any attempt to assess their extent is difficult due to restrictions on internet access imposed by the authorities. They were accompanied by strikes.
“Systematic Oppression”
The 1500tasvir news site reported “strikes” organized in several cities, including “Sanadaj, Bukan and Sakez” (north). The latter is the city where Mahsa Amini was born.
Norway-based human rights group Hengaw also spoke of traders striking in the same towns and in Marivan (west).
In Tabriz, the capital of East Azerbaijan province, dozens of workers gathered in front of a chocolate factory, according to a video that AFP notes it could not immediately verify.
Students demonstrated at several universities in the country, according to 1500tasvir, which cited the Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture in Yazd (central), Tehran University, Alamein Tabatabai University, east of the capital, Razi University in Kermanshah (northwest) and other higher education institutions in Hamedan (west), Ahvaz and Yasuj (southwest).
Dozens of students cheered and chanted during a demonstration at a Tehran university, video uploaded to Twitter by 1500tasvir shows.
Another video, taken at the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Tabriz, shows dozens of students shouting slogans against the authorities.
A trade union organization of teachers has called for a national strike today and tomorrow Monday in protest of the repression which, according to Amnesty International, has claimed the lives of at least 23 children.
In a statement, the Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Unions said it was calling for a “sit-in protest” in response to the “systematic oppression” of security forces inside schools. He named four children who were killed and spoke of the arrest of a large number of members of the teaching staff.
Activists accuse Iranian authorities of waging a campaign of mass arrests and equally massive travel bans on athletes, journalists, lawyers, celebrities, among others.
The authorities, who speak of “riots”, not demonstrations, downplay their scope and attribute them to the incitement of “enemies” of the Islamic Republic, especially the US.
Yesterday Saturday, Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi admitted that protest rallies are taking place inside universities, but assured that the participants are “less and less”. “The unrest is in its last days,” he added, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Concentrations abroad
On Friday, Iranian athlete Elnaz Rekabi, who according to the BBC Persian service and London-based Iran International was placed under house arrest after returning from South Korea, thanked her supporters via Instagram.
The 33-year-old athlete who participated in the Asian climbing championship was welcomed at Tehran airport by a crowd of her supporters. Her participation in the games without a headscarf, simply wearing a bandana and overalls in the colors of Iran, was taken as a gesture of solidarity with the protests in her homeland.
Human rights organizations based abroad expressed concern over the fate of the athlete, who upon her return told the media that her headscarf had fallen by mistake and apologized.
Solidarity rallies for the participants in the protests in Iran continued abroad, from Tokyo to Berlin, with thousands of people in attendance.
The international community has condemned the crackdown and several countries, including the European Union, have imposed sanctions on Iranian leaders and state institutions accused of it.
On Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, accused Washington of using the protests to secure concessions in negotiations that began a year ago to bring all parties back into full compliance with the deal on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, officially the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015.
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I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
