For the twelfth night in a row, Iranians took to the streets this Tuesday, September 27 in several cities across the country to protest the death of a young woman arrested by the morality police, despite the crackdown that left dozens dead.
Despite international calls to end the use of force against demonstrators, the government has remained firm in the face of protesters accused of being "
rioters
" who "
undermine security and public property
".
Read alsoDeath of Mahsa Amini: it is "all of Iran which is now demonstrating"
Protests have been taking place every night since September 16, when 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini died in hospital, three days after she was arrested in Tehran for breaking a strict dress code for women. in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who must cover their hair in public.
According to opposition media based outside Iran, protests resumed Tuesday evening in various cities.
But activists said disruptions to internet connections were making it increasingly difficult for the images to be transmitted.
In a video shared online by the opposition Manoto TV channel, a woman is shown without a headscarf and waving her arms in the air in Tehran's Narmak district.
In Sanandaj, capital of the province of Kurdistan (north-west), where Mahsa Amini was from, women are seen removing their headscarves as a man burns a banner with a photo of the Supreme Leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Shiraz (south), according to information from Iran International TV, based in London.
Disrupted connections
"
Internet restrictions remain in effect, but some videos of the protests manage to get out
," said the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
To limit protests, authorities blocked access to Instagram and WhatsApp in Iran.
Internet connections are disrupted.
According to a latest report given Tuesday by the Iranian news agency Fars, "
about 60 people have been killed
" since the start of the demonstrations on September 16.
Police, quoted by the official Irna news agency, said 10 officers were dead but it was unclear if these were among the 60 dead.
The NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Oslo, reported on Monday evening "
at least 76 dead
" including "
six women and four children
", claiming to have obtained "
videos and death certificates confirming firing live ammunition at demonstrators
”.
Read alsoIran: anger against the veil ignites youth
Women are at the forefront of protests in Iran.
Since the beginning of the demonstrations, they have been seen on several videos released by NGOs or activists, removing their headscarves, climbing on car roofs or dancing.
Other videos in recent days have shown riot police beating protesters with batons and students tearing up large photos of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his predecessor, Imam Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic.
And according to human rights defenders, the police also fired pellets and live ammunition at the protesters who threw stones, set fire to police cars and set fire to public buildings.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi accused protesters of destroying 72 ambulances.
The opposition abroad accuses the authorities of using ambulances to transport security forces.
"Foreign conspiracies"
Iranian officials have denied any physical contact between the morality police and the young Mahsa Amini after her arrest in Tehran, and say they are awaiting the results of the investigation.
They reported the arrest of more than 1,200 protesters since September 16.
International NGOs have also reported the arrest of activists, lawyers and journalists.
The authorities in Iran denounce "
foreign plots
" behind the protest movement, pointing the finger at the United States, their sworn enemy.
Westerners, the UN and international NGOs have called on Iran to stop the repression.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced "
the use of violence against women to exercise what should be a fundamental freedom
".
Read alsoIn Iran, the revolt against the veil turns into anti-regime protest
The protests are the largest since those of November 2019, caused by the rise in gasoline prices in Iran, which had been severely repressed (230 dead according to an official report, more than 300 according to Amnesty International).
