At least 35 dead in Iran after more than a week of protests over the deceased young woman

At least 35 people died in the demonstrations. that began in Iran more than a week ago after the death of a young woman, arrested by the police for wearing the veil in an “inappropriate” way, according to an official balance this Saturday.

Protesters have taken to the streets of Iran’s major cities, including the capital Tehran, for eight consecutive nights since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

This Kurdish woman was pronounced dead after spending three days in a coma after being detained by Iran’s feared morality police for wearing the hijab “inappropriately”.

“The number of people who have died in the recent unrest in the country has risen to 35,” state media said, raising the previous official figure of at least 17 dead, including five members of the security forces.

In the province of Guilán (northeast) the police chief announced on Saturday “the arrest of 739 rioters, including 60 women” only in this region since the protests began, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.

On Friday there were again protests across the country. Videos circulating on the internet showed clashes in Tehran and other major cities, such as Tabriz.

Some footage showed security forces in the cities of Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia firing what appeared to be live ammunition at unarmed protesters.

In a video shared by the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, a uniformed member of the security forces fires an AK-47 assault rifle at protesters on Tehran’s Ferdowsi Boulevard.

According to the organization, other images show the “flow of state security forces (…) on a highway in Tehran” on Friday night.

There was also a wave of arrests of activists and journalists, including Niloufar Hamedi of the reformist Shargh newspaper, who reported on Amini’s death.

In addition, according to the organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 11 journalists have been detained since Monday.

According to the Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw, protesters have “taken control” of parts of the city of Oshnavieh in West Azerbaijan province.

According to London-based Amnesty International, evidence gathered in 20 cities across Iran points to “a horrific pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and illegally firing live ammunition at protesters.”

In parallel, thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran on Friday in a demonstration in favor of the hijab, paying tribute to the security forces that are trying to suffocate what the official media call “conspirators”.

Demonstrations in support of the security forces were also held in cities such as Ahvaz, Isfahan, Qom and Tabriz.

Amini died after being detained by the Iranian morality police, which is in charge of enforcing the country’s strict dress code for women.

According to the NGOs, she received a blow to the head while she was detained, an information not confirmed by the authorities, who opened an investigation.

Some protesters removed their hijab in defiance and burned it, or symbolically cut their hair before cheering crowds, according to images posted on social media.

On Friday, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi insisted that Amini had not been hit.

“Reports were received from oversight agencies, witnesses were interviewed, videos were reviewed, forensic opinions were obtained and it was found that there had been no beatings,” Vahidi said.

However, Amnesty International rejects the official investigation and asks the world to take “significant measures” against the bloody repression.

Iran has imposed harsh restrictions on internet use in an attempt to make it difficult for protesters to gather and prevent images of the crackdown from reaching the outside world.