Iran has sent police to the streets in a scramble to end protests that have spread to at least 15 cities, as rights groups and local media reported up to six people had been killed in crackdowns.
There were reports of internet blackouts in parts of the country in an apparent attempt to quell growing anger. The telecommunications minister, Issa Zarepour, was quoted by the official Irna news agency as saying there had been some “temporary restrictions in some places and at some hours”.
State media reported that police used tear gas and made arrests to disperse crowds of up to 1,000 people on Tuesday evening. Irna claimed demonstrators had hurled stones at security forces and set fire to police vehicles.
Protests have engulfed parts of the country over the past five days after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for not wearing the hijab appropriately.
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Irna said a “police assistant” died of injuries on Tuesday in the southern city of Shiraz. And a Kurdish human rights group, Hengaw, said two more people had been killed by police, raising the claimed death toll since Amini’s death to six.
An additional 450 people had been wounded and 500 arrested, the group said, figures that could not be independently verified.
Demonstrations have rocked the country. Social media has shown women being cornered by helmeted men on motorbikes and beaten. Many women had taken off their headscarves in protest against the morality police, who have been enforcing the hijab in line with a decree issued by the new leadership of the president, Ebrahim Raisi.
Speaking at the UN general assembly in New York on Wednesday, Mr Raisi did not mention the demonstrations or Ms Amini by name but criticised western countries for their reactions to “an incident under investigation in Iran”.
Iranian officials say they are conducting an inquiry into the cause of Ms Amini’s death. However, the protesters have little faith in an internal investigation and want the morality police abolished.
On Wednesday, the country’s supreme leader gave a televised speech in which he did not mention the protests but warned how young people should not “fall for western powers’ deception”. Tehran repeatedly blames its internal issues on meddling by its international enemies.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (83), who is subject of persistent reports of failing health, showed no clear sign of physical frailty in a near hour-long address.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, US president Joe Biden criticised Iran’s human rights record.
Alluding to the protests over the death in custody of Ms Amini, Mr Biden said the United States stood with “the brave citizens and brave women of Iran, who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights.”
With talks stalled on restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which president Donald Trump abandoned, Mr Biden implicitly threatened to use force if necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but said that he wanted to prevent conflict.
“We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” Mr Biden said, adding: “I continue to believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve this outcome.”
In his earlier UN speech on Wednesday, his first as president, there was little content to suggest Mr Raisi was prepared to make further compromises to reach a deal with Washington, saying it was necessary for Iran to be provided with fresh guarantees that sanctions will not be reimposed by the US.
Mr Biden has given the assurance that so long as Iran remains in compliance with restrictions on its nuclear programme, sanctions will not be reimposed, but he cannot bind future US leaders. — Guardian. Additional reporting: New York Times