In videos published on social networks and verified by AFP, a man in military uniform is seen shooting at protesters, whose number is unknown, in the Shahre Rey area, in the south of the Iranian capital.
Other images show protesters running in front of the Park Royal hotel in northern Tehran, with scenes of chaos and several localized street fires, while gunshots of undetermined origin are heard.
Mahsa Amini, 22, was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for dressing “inappropriately” by the morality police, charged with enforcing Iran’s strict dress code.
Three days later he died in hospital and his death sparked nightly protests in major Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran.
A state media reported on Thursday the death of 17 people in the demonstrations, but according to the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Oslo, the real figures could be fifty dead, according to its latest statement. Friday night.
This organization reported that in the last week there were protests in some 80 locations.
-Confrontations and arrests-
In several cities, protesters clashed with security forces, burned police vehicles and chanted anti-government slogans, according to media and activists.
Police arrested an unknown number of people, Iranian media reported. Among them are the activist Majid Tavakoli and the journalist Nilufar Hamedi, according to their relatives.
The most viral images on social networks are those in which women appear setting their scarves on fire.
In Iran, women must cover their hair and are not allowed to wear short or tight coats or jeans with holes.
From New York, where he attended the UN General Assembly, President Ebrahim Raisi asked to “differentiate between protesters and vandalism” and promised an investigation into the young woman’s death.
The authorities, who describe the demonstrators as “counter-revolutionaries”, “troublemakers” or “conspirators”, decided to organize their own demonstrations after Friday prayers.
Summoned by an entity that organizes official events, thousands of people marched in various cities in Iran, particularly in Tehran but also in Qom (north) or Isfahan (center) to defend the use of the veil and denounce “mercenaries”.
– Internet –
In the capital, hundreds of people, including women in chadors, demonstrated with Iranian flags and banners of support and thanks to the police, according to state television.
“Death to the conspirators”, “Advocating the end of the veil is American policy”, were some of the slogans.
The Revolutionary Guards, the Islamic Republic’s ideological army, praised the “efforts and sacrifices of the police” and said the recent “conspiracy of the enemy” is “doomed to fail.”
While NGOs abroad denounce a “brutal” repression of the demonstrations, the authorities continued to block access to WhatsApp and Instagram on Friday.
The Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw indicated for its part that the security forces fired during the night from Thursday to Friday with “medium-heavy weapons” against protesters in the city of Oshnavieh (northwest).
The authorities announced on Thursday the death of five members of the security forces.
After the start of the protests, on the night of September 16, the government limited access to the Internet and since Wednesday blocked Instagram and WhatsApp, a measure against “the actions of counterrevolutionaries against national security through these social networks.” , according to the Fars agency.
In this sense, the United States announced on Friday the lifting of certain prohibitions on trade with Iran to allow technology companies to provide platforms and services that allow Iranians to access the internet.
The entrance New manifestations of anger over the death of a young woman shake Iran was first published in diary TODAY.
