Iran cracks down on protesters after death of woman arrested over hijab
Mahsa Amini's death ignited a wave of protests against the government.
Iranian security forces opened fire on Saturday on a crowd of protesters mourning the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her arrest by the "guidance patrol," a police unit in charge of enforcing mandatory hijab rules.
According to Hengaw, a media organization monitoring the human rights situation in Iran, at least 13 people were injured, one of them in critical condition, after riot police opened fire and threw gas canisters at a protest venue outside the governor's office in Mahsa's hometown, the Kurdish city of Saghez.
The violence occurred as security officials rushed the woman's burial early Friday morning in anticipation of protests. Roads to Saghez were also blocked to bar the entry of mourners from adjacent cities, while internet connection was severely disrupted, local activists reported on social media, adding that intelligence officials had confiscated mobile phones belonging to the deceased woman's family members.
"Death to the dictator," the protesters were heard chanting, repeating a slogan that has increasingly themed Iranian protests in recent years, and which appears directed at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One video also showed a Khamenei banner torn apart by some protesters. And defying the strict hijab law, some women lifted their headscarves during the funeral, dismissing it as "humiliation".
