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Associated Press reporter
22 September 2022 11:30
Clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody have left at least nine dead since the violence erupted over the weekend.
A widespread outage on Instagram and WhatsApp, used by protesters to share information about the government’s rolling crackdown on dissidents, continued on Thursday.
Authorities also appear to have disrupted internet connections to the outside world, a tactic that activists say is often employed in times of turmoil.
Demonstrations in Iran began with excitement over the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the country’s ethics police on suspicion of violating a strictly enforced dress code.
Her death has sparked strong condemnation from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.
Police say she died of a heart attack and was not abused, but her family doubts it.
Over the past four days, protests have grown into an open challenge to the government, with women taking off state-mandated headscarves in the streets, Iranians setting fire to rubbish bins and calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic itself.
“Death to the dictator” has been a common cry among protests.
Demonstrations also rocked university campuses in Tehran and cities in the far west, such as Kermanshah.
Although widespread, the unrest appears to be very different from previous rounds of nationwide protests over wallet issues as Iran’s economy crumbles under tough U.S. sanctions.
Unrest in 2019 over the government’s sudden increase in gasoline prices mobilized working-class masses in small towns.
Hundreds of people were killed in a crackdown by security forces in the deadliest violence since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to human rights groups.
Iranian state media this week reported demonstrations in at least 13 cities, including the capital Tehran, where protesters vented their anger at the social crackdown.
Online video showed security forces firing tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protests.
London-based Amnesty International said police shot and beat protesters with batons.
At least nine people were killed in the clashes, according to statements by Iran’s state-run and semi-official media.
Officials have blamed unnamed foreign countries, which they claim are trying to incite unrest.
In Amini’s hometown of Kurdistan northwest, the provincial police chief said four protesters were killed by live ammunition.
In Kermanshah, prosecutors said two protesters were killed by opposition groups, insisting the bullets were not fired by Iranian security forces.
Meanwhile, three men attached to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards Volunteer Unit Basij were also killed in clashes in cities including Shiraz, Tabriz and Mashhad, according to semi-official media, bringing the death toll on both sides up to 9 people.
Authorities shut down the internet in parts of the country as the protests spread, according to London-based internet access monitoring group NetBlocks, describing the restrictions as the toughest since mass protests in November 2019.
Iran has grappled with waves of protests in recent years, largely due to Western sanctions over its nuclear program that have exacerbated a long-running economic crisis.
Iranians also accuse the government of corruption and mismanagement, as prices of basic goods surge, the currency depreciates and unemployment remains high.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration and European allies have been trying to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, in which Iran limited its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, but talks have stalled for months.
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