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Iran security forces felt 'open firing' in mourning of thousands of people

 


Irani, 22, of Kurdish origin, died on 16 September, three days after her arrest in Tehran.

• Iran's security forces opened fire on thousands of mourners of Mahsa Amini, who had come together to mark 40 days since his death.

According to a rights group and verified video, Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters, who gathered in the thousands on Wednesday in Mahsa Amini's hometown, 40 days after her death.

Irani Amini, 22, of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the notorious ethics police in Tehran for violating the Islamic dress code for women.

Anger over her funeral flared up and increasingly widespread protests, with young women leading the way, burning scarves over their heads and facing security forces, were seen in the Islamic Republic's biggest wave of unrest in years.

Despite tight security arrangements, pillars of mourners gathered at the end of the traditional mourning period in Sakez in western Kurdistan province to pay tribute at Amini's grave.

In a viral photo of the scene verified by AFP, a young woman without a hijab was seen standing on the roof of a car, looking into the distance on a highway filled with vehicles and mourners.

"Death of the dictator," as mourners at the Aichi cemetery outside Sakez marched towards the governor's office in the city center, where Iranian media outlets said some were ready to attack an army base.

A Norwegian group that monitors rights violations in the Kurdish regions of Iran said "security forces fired tear gas and opened fire on people in Jindan Square, the city of Sakez."

Iran's ISNA news agency said the internet had been cut in Sakez for "security reasons", and that about 10,000 people had gathered in the city.

But many thousands were seen making their way in cars, on motorbikes and on foot along highways, through fields and even across a river, in videos shared widely online.

With noisy clapping, shouting and honking car horns, mourners packed the highway connecting Sakéz to the cemetery eight kilometers (five miles) away in images that Hangau told AFP they verified. was.

ISNA said some of the crowd returning from the cemetery had "intended to attack a military base", until they were dispersed by other participants.

In a verified video, a police post was torched and set ablaze by the side of a bridge in the Kavakh neighborhood of Sakage.

"This year is the year of blood, Syed Ali will be overthrown," a group of them said in a video verified by AFP, referring to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Kurdistan, Kurdistan, the cemetery of the fascists," others were heard singing in a video shared by activists on Twitter. AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage.

Hangau said activists went on strike in Sakez as well as in Diwandareh, Mariwan, Kamyaran and Sanandaj and Javanrud and Ravansar in the western province of Kermanshah.

The Norway-based rights group said Iranian football stars Ali Dei and Hameed Lak had traveled to Sakéz to attend the "40th day" service.

They were staying at a Kurdish hotel, but were "taken to a government guesthouse ... under protection by security forces", it said.

Dai has been in trouble with authorities before over her online support for the Amini protests.

Kurdistan's governor Ismail Zarei-Kousha accused Iran's enemies of being behind the unrest.

Quoting state news agency IRNA, he said, "The enemy and its media... are trying to use the 40-day anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death as a pretext to create new tensions, but fortunately the situation in the province is completely out of control." is stable." ,

Social media channel 1500tasvir, which deals with rights violations by Iran's security forces, said fresh protests erupted at universities in Tehran, Mashhad in Iran's northeast and Ahvaz in the southwest.

The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said security forces' crackdown on the Amini protests has claimed the lives of at least 141 protesters in an updated death toll on Tuesday.

Amnesty International says at least 23 children have been killed in the "relentless brutal crackdown", while the IHR said at least 29 children have been killed.

The United States on Wednesday placed more than a dozen Iranian officials on a blacklist for its sanctions, while Germany slammed Tehran for sanctioning European media outlets earlier.

The White House later said it was "concerned that Moscow was advising Iran on best practices to manage the protests, with extensive experience in suppressing opponents".

More than five weeks after Amini's death, the demonstrations are showing no signs of ending.

They are fueled by public outrage over the action, which claimed the lives of other young women and girls.

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