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protests in Tehran
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According to human rights activists, at least 50 people have been killed in the violent crackdown on protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini.
The Iran Human Rights (IHR) organization based in Oslo said that six people were shot dead by security forces on Thursday evening in Reswanshahr in the northern Iranian province of Gilan.
Thousands of counter-demonstrators took to the streets for wearing headscarves.
The nationwide protests, which according to IHR have now spread to around 80 cities, were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini a week ago.
She had been arrested by the Morality Police for allegedly not wearing the Islamic headscarf in accordance with strict regulations.
Amini collapsed at the police station under mysterious circumstances and was pronounced dead at the hospital three days later.
Police say she had a heart attack.
According to human rights activists, however, the young woman suffered a fatal blow to the head.
Counter-protests for wearing the headscarf
According to IHR, deaths had also been reported from the northern Iranian towns of Babol and Amol.
"The international community must stand by the Iranian people against one of the most repressive regimes of our time," demanded IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
The Iranian authorities officially put the number of dead at 17, including five security forces.
In the capital Tehran, numerous people demonstrated for wearing the headscarf on Friday, following a call from the authorities, as reported by the state news agency IRNA.
During the counter-protest, participants thanked the security forces and condemned women who had burned their headscarves.
The Friday prayers imam called on the judiciary to "act swiftly against the rioters who brutalize people, set public property on fire and burn the Koran".
During the demonstrations, believers chanted "He who supports the end of the veil is doing American-style politics" and "Death to the conspirators".
Activist and reporter arrested
The Iranian authorities meanwhile arrested a well-known activist and a journalist.
The activist is Majid Tawakoli, who has been imprisoned several times.
His brother had reported the arrest on Twitter.
According to the daily »Schargh«, the journalist is Nilufar Hamedi.
The reporter works for »Schargh« and had visited the hospital where Amini was lying and helped to publicize her case.
A photojournalist had previously been arrested while covering the demonstrations in Tehran against strict regulations for women.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Amini's death on Friday as "terrible".
The fatalities in the protests of "brave women" in Iran "depress me," Scholz wrote on Twitter.
czl/AFP
