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A woman holds up a picture of the deceased Mahsa Amini
Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFP
The authorities have reported the first deaths following protests in Iran following the death of a young Iranian woman after she was arrested by the vice squad.
The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that three people had been killed in Kurdistan province.
Two people were killed by a military weapon, the death of a third person was "suspicious".
The type of weapon is not used by security forces, the governor of the province said, according to the report.
According to the Fars news agency, the governor spoke of a "conspiracy instigated by the enemy".
Meanwhile, Tehran's governor Mohsen Mansuri spoke of planned and trained protests with the aim of causing unrest.
In the capital alone, thousands of people gathered on Monday evening to denounce the death of Mahsa Amini and to demand clarification.
Security forces arrested numerous demonstrators, as reported by the Iranian news agencies Isna and Fars.
In the evening, too, people flocked to the streets again after it had initially remained quiet during the day.
The young woman was arrested last Tuesday by the moral and religious police because of her "un-Islamic outfit".
What exactly happened after that is unclear.
However, Amini fell into a coma and died in a hospital on Friday.
According to the police, the young woman had heart problems and fainted at the station.
However, another version was also circulating online.
After the arrest, her head was banged against the window in the police car, causing a cerebral hemorrhage.
The police vehemently denied this account.
During the protests, women publicly burned their headscarves in solidarity.
According to media reports, there were clashes between security forces and demonstrators.
In several places, the participants shouted: "We are not afraid, we are all together".
Cries of "Death to the dictator" could be heard in the streets.
Sharp criticism from the United Nations and the USA
The police and the government of arch-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi have been unable to explain the death of the woman and the nationwide indignation.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has strongly criticized Iran's implementation of dress codes for women and called for a swift and independent investigation into the death of 22-year-old Amini.
The USA also voiced sharp criticism.
The fact that a woman who only wants to exercise her basic rights could die in this way reflects the "complete oppression and brutality of the regime," said US President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in Washington.
Former Health Minister Massud Peseschkian also called for transparency.
As a trained doctor, the 67-year-old doubts the official representation.
Since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there have been strict dress codes in Iran.
In the big cities in particular, many women now see the rules as rather relaxed and only wear their headscarves loosely on the back of their heads, to the annoyance of ultra-conservative politicians.
Dam/dpa/AFP