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Protests worldwide: Kurdish women in northern Syria share in the fate of Mahsa Amini
Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP
For almost two weeks people in Iran have been taking to the streets against the regime.
The protests were sparked by the unexplained death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Tehran's judicial authorities warned demonstrators of further "unrest" on Sunday.
The warning fizzled out: numerous women and men took to the streets again on Monday night.
The human rights organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) in Oslo published pictures of demonstrators in Tehran shouting "Death to the dictator".
Eyewitnesses told the AFP news agency about protests in several towns, including Tabriz and Shiraz.
The head of the Iranian judicial authorities, Gholamhossein Mohseni Edschei, had previously announced "determined action without forbearance" against those responsible.
Head of state Ebrahim Raisi had previously called on the security forces to take "decisive action" against the demonstrators.
According to official figures, 41 people have been killed in the protests so far.
The organization IHR put the number of demonstrators killed on Sunday evening at at least 57.
22-year-old Mahsa Amini was arrested by the Morality Police on September 13 on charges of not wearing the Islamic headscarf in accordance with strict regulations.
After her arrest, Amini collapsed under mysterious circumstances at the police station and was pronounced dead at the hospital three days later.
Worldwide sympathy for the fate of Mahsa Amini
Amini's death sparked nationwide protests that have now been going on for ten days.
Hundreds of people have been arrested since the protests began, and access to the internet and online services has been restricted.
The human rights organization Amnesty International accuses the security forces of "deliberately and unlawfully" using live ammunition to disperse protesters.
Demonstrators, in turn, threw stones and set fire to police cars and government buildings.
Internationally, the protests triggered strong sympathy, in many countries people demonstrated in front of Iranian embassies and consulates.
The EU and the USA also condemn Tehran's crackdown on the protests.
"The fact that we are negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program in no way affects our willingness and our vehemence to speak out about what is happening on Iran's streets," said US President Joe Biden's national security adviser. Jake Sullivan, the broadcaster CBS News on Sunday.
The United States had taken "concrete steps" to sanction the vice squad and make it easier for Iranians to access the Internet.
The US, Russia, China, France and Britain are negotiating with Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal designed to prevent the country from building a nuclear bomb.
It has been on hold since the United States left in 2018.
The aim of the ongoing talks is to lift US sanctions against Iran and restrict Tehran's nuclear program again.
Recently, the dispute seemed deadlocked again.
The negotiations would "in no way stop the US from speaking out against the brutal oppression of Iranian citizens and women," Sullivan said.
mrc/dpa/AFP