Iranian authorities have arrested more than 1,200 people, most of them in northern Iran, since protests began ten days ago over the death of a young woman detained by police, local media reported Monday.
During the riots of the last few days, 450 protesters were arrested in Mazandaran (north),” Provincial Attorney General Mohammad Karimi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
On Saturday, Iranian authorities reported that 739 protesters had been detained, including 60 women in Guilan, neighboring Mazandaran province in the north of the country.
Citing a local official, the Fars news agency announced on Sunday the arrest of 88 protesters in the southern province of Hormozgan.
According to the same source, the Iranian authorities carried out other arrests in the cities of Zanjan (northwest), Karaj (west of Tehran) and Kerman (southeast).
Mahsa Amini, 22, originally from Kurdistan (northwest), was arrested by the morality police on September 13 in Tehran for “wearing inappropriate clothing”.
That unit is responsible for enforcing Iran’s strict dress code, where women must cover their hair and are not allowed to wear short or tight clothing, among other prohibitions. The young woman died on September 16 in the hospital, the date on which the protests began in the country.
The protest movement spread to several cities in the country, where demonstrators shouted anti-government slogans, according to local media.
In recent days, protesters have attacked government buildings and damaged public property in parts of Mazandaran under the direction of foreign agents,” Karimi said.
On Sunday, the head of the judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, threatened to “show no mercy” to the protesters and urged the police to act “firmly” against “those who undermine security.”
According to an undetailed official report, 41 people died, including protesters and police, in ten days of protests.
On Saturday, local media announced the death of four paramilitaries in the “riots” in Tehran, Shiraz (south), Urmia (northwest) and Garmsar (center), which brought the number of security forces agents in the last days.
The Tasnim news agency published on Monday that about 20 photos of protesters, including women, in various streets of Qom, an important Shiite holy city located about 150 kilometers south of the capital.
The military and security institutions published these images of the “riot leaders” and appealed to the inhabitants to “identify them and inform the authorities,” the Tasnim agency added.
The death of Mahsa Amini provoked strong condemnation around the world and international non-governmental organizations denounced the brutal repression of the protests.
Source: Observadora
