Clashes as protests in Iran enter fourth week

Clashes as protests in Iran enter fourth week

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Schoolgirls chanted slogans, workers went on strike and street fighting erupted across Iran on Saturday as protests over the death of Mahsa Amini entered their fourth week despite a bloody crackdown.

Anger flared after the 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman died on September 16, three days after she was arrested in Tehran by notorious morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

Iran said Friday an inquest found Amini died from a long-standing illness rather than “blows” to the head, although her family reportedly said she was previously healthy.

But protests continued on Saturday when ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi posed for a group photo with female students at Tehran’s Al Zahra University to mark the start of the academic year.

In Amini’s hometown of Saqez in western Kurdistan province, schoolgirls were heard singing “Woman, Life, Freedom” and seen marching down a street, waving headscarves over their heads, in videos taken Saturday, according to the Hengaw rights group.

In another video shared, a group of girls could be heard chanting the same phrase – the protest’s catchphrase – as they entered a school in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province.

Despite internet restrictions aimed at hampering gatherings and preventing images of the crackdown from being shared, protesters have adopted new tactics to get their message across.

“We are no longer afraid. We will fight,” said a large banner posted on an overpass of the Modares highway that runs through central Tehran, according to online images verified by AFP.

– ‘Widespread strikes’ –

In another widely shared video, a man can be seen changing the wording of a large government billboard from “The police are the servants of the people” to “The police are the people’s murderers.”

Hengaw, a Kurdish rights group based in Norway, said “widespread strikes” were taking place in Saqez, Sanandaj and Divandarreh in Kurdistan Province, and in Mahabad in West Azerbaijan Province.

Gunshots were heard as protesters clashed with security forces on a street in Sanandaj, in a video shared by social media channel 1500tasvir, which monitors human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic.

The same source said there had been protests in the southern city of Shiraz.

It also shared verified video of a demonstration in Karaj, a city west of Tehran, as well as footage of drivers honking car horns in the southern city of Kerman as dozens of people gathered along the roadside.

AFP was unable to immediately verify other footage from 1500tasvir.

Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights says at least 92 protesters were killed in the crackdown, which has fueled tensions between Iran and the West, particularly its nemesis the United States.

Raisi – a die-hard who in July called for all state institutions to mobilize to enforce hijab rules – appealed for unity.

“Despite the best efforts of the unfortunate, the strong and hardworking people of Islamic Iran will overcome the problems ahead with unity and cohesion,” he was quoted as saying on the presidency’s website on Saturday.

– Arbitrary Arrests –

Iran has repeatedly accused outside forces of fueling the protests and announced last week that nine foreign nationals – including those from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands – had been arrested.

On Friday, the French government advised its nationals visiting Iran to “leave the country as soon as possible,” citing the risk of arbitrary detention.

The Dutch government advised its citizens to avoid traveling to the Islamic Republic or to leave if it is safe for them to do so.

“Demonstrations that can turn violent can occur in many cities across the country. The demonstrations are increasing,” it said in a statement.

“Police sometimes act harshly and arbitrarily… Iranian authorities can also arbitrarily arrest people of foreign nationality.”

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker who was held in Tehran for six years before being released in March, called on the British government to crack down on Iran’s human rights abuses in an interview aired on Britain’s Sky News on Saturday.

“I want the (British Government) to watch what is happening and not turn a blind eye. I want her to protect us. We cannot be indifferent to what is happening in Iran,” she said.

“And when we talk about protecting the rights of our citizens, we have to do something about it. And I think we need to hold Iran accountable.”

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