Iran Anti-hijab protest News Live Updates: Kurdish women activists hold headscarfs and a portrait of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, with Arabic that reads, "The woman is life, don't kill the life," during a protest against her death in Iran, at Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. Protests have erupted across Iran in recent days after Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while being held by the morality police for violating the country's strictly enforced Islamic dress code. (AP)Even as Iran continues to be at the centre of global criticism and nationwide protests over Mahsa Aminis’ death for the 7th day and officials admitted to at least 17 civillian deaths, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday that Iran must “deal decisively with those who oppose the country’s security and tranquility”, Iranian state media reported. Raisi’s comments were made in a condolence telephone call to the family of a security agent stabbed to death last week, allegedy by protesters enraged over the death of a young woman in police custody.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday and called for a prompt, impartial and effective investigation by an independent competent authority into Amini’s death, the United Nations spokesperson said. Guterres also raised concerns about reports of peaceful protests over Amini’s death being met with “excessive use of force” and appealed to the Iranian security forces to exercise restraint.
On the other hand, Iranian counter-protesters gathered across the country on Friday in a show of support for authorities after nearly a week of anti-government protests and unrest over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was held by the morality police for “unsuitable attire” and died in custosy. The Iranian army said on Friday it will “confront the enemies” to ensure security, the toughest warning yet to nationwide protesters.
Amid massive protests in Iran in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini who was allegedly detained by the “morality police” for not wearing the hijab, netizens have dug out an old clip of former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in which he is heard mocking the need for making the hijab mandatory for women in Egypt.
In the video, the revolutionary leader recounts his exchange with Hassan al-Hudaybi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 1953. The clip – posted by journalist Seamus Malekafzali on Twitter – was apparently recorded eight years after the interaction, at a party gathering.
Iran must deal decisively with protests which have swept the country after the death in custody of a woman detained by the Islamic Republic's morality police, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday.
Thirty-five people have been killed in the weeklong demonstrations, according to Iran's state television, with protest spreading to most of the country's 31 provinces. On Friday, state-organised rallies took place in several Iranian cities to counter the anti-government protests, and the army promised to confront "the enemies" behind the unrest.
State media quoted Raisi on Saturday as saying Iran must "deal decisively with those who oppose the country's security and tranquillity". Raisi was speaking by telephone to the family of a member of the Basij volunteer force killed while taking part in the crackdown on unrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad. The president "stressed the necessity to distinguish between protest and disturbing public order and security, and called the events ... a riot," state media reported. (Reuters)
The large-scale protests against the Iranian government over the custodial death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who was arrested by the country's notorious "morality" police for allegedly violating the strict law on headscarves has reportedly spread to about 80 cities and towns.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly women, took to the streets following the death of Mahsa Amini - a Kurd native, chanting anti-government slogans that target the core of the Islamic regime and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The death toll in the violent clashes with security forces has reached as high as 26, Iranian state TV indicated on Friday. The unrest, said to be the worst in recent years, has also spread to about 80 Iranian cities and towns.
At least five security personnel have also been killed and several others injured while trying to confront protesters in Mashhad, Quchan, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Karaj, it added. (PTI)
The Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD) has hit out at Iran's "obscurantist" and "authoritarian" laws in the wake of a young woman's death in police custody for allegedly violating that country's strictly-enforced dress code.
Mahsa Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran's morality police in Tehran last week for allegedly violating its dress code. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family members have expressed apprehensions about it.
"IMSD strongly condemns Iran's obscurantist, authoritarian laws and its murderous enforcement, as also the denial of the citizens' right to protest," the group said in a statement on Friday.
It further said in the third decade of the 21st century, it is inhuman and barbaric to kill a fellow human being merely for not covering her head. "At the same time, we question the hypocrisy of India's Muslim clergy in not supporting the Iranian women's right to choose, an argument it puts forward in the context of the ongoing hijab controversy in India," it said.
The statement issued by IMSD has been endorsed by nearly 100 prominent citizens from different cities and walks of life, including freedom fighter G G Parikh, Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Zeenat Shaukatali, Yogendra Yadav and Tushar Gandhi. (PTI)
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that he would activate the firm’s satellite internet service, Starlink, in response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s tweet that the United States took action “to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information” to Iranians.
The US Treasury Department on Friday issued guidance expanding internet services available to Iranians despite US sanctions on the country, amid protests around Iran following the death of a 22-year-old woman in custody.
A Treasury official briefing reporters said: “Our understanding of Starlink is that what they provide would be commercial grade, and it would be hardware that’s not covered in the general license; so that would be something they would need to write into Treasury for.” (Read More)
American tech firms will be allowed to expand their business in Iran, where most internet access has been cut off in response to anti-government protests, the Treasury Department said Friday.
Iran has been cracking down on demonstrators protesting the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of its morality police.
Iranian state TV suggests that as many as 26 protesters and police have been killed since violence erupted over the weekend.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the move will help counter the government's surveillance efforts.
“It is clear that the Iranian government is afraid of its own people,” Blinken said in an emailed statement. “Mahsa Amini is senselessly, tragically dead, and now the government is violently suppressing peaceful protesters rightly angry about her loss.”
The morality police detained Amini last week, saying she didn’t properly cover her hair with the Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab. Amini collapsed at a police station and died three days later.
US sanctions were imposed Thursday on the morality police and leaders of other law enforcement agencies. The Treasury Department said an updated general license issued Friday authorizes tech firms to offer more social media and collaboration platforms, video conferencing and cloud-based services.
The updated license also removes the condition that communications be “personal,” which Treasury said was burdening companies with the need to verify the purpose of the communications. “As courageous Iranians take to the streets to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, the United States is redoubling its support for the free flow of information to the Iranian people,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. (AP)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday and called for a prompt, impartial and effective investigation by an independent competent authority into Mahsa Amini's death, the United Nations spokesperson said.
During the meet, Guterres raised concerns about reports of peaceful protests over Amini's death being met with "excessive use of force", the spokesperson said.
While appealing to the Iranian security forces to exercise restraint, Guterres asked them to refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force on protesters. He also urged Iranian authorities to respect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, along with respecting women's rights, the spokesperson added. (Reuters)
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The US Treasury Department said Friday it was allowing American tech firms to expand their business in Iran, one of the most sanctioned countries in the world, to boost internet access for the Iranian people. The Iranian government has cut internet access for its 80 million citizens during a crackdown on demonstrators protesting the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
The Treasury Department said an updated general license issued Friday authorizes tech firms to offer more social media and collaboration platforms, video conferencing and cloud-based services.
“As courageous Iranians take to the streets to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, the United States is redoubling its support for the free flow of information to the Iranian people,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. “With these changes, we are helping the Iranian people be better equipped to counter the government’s efforts to surveil and censor them,” the statement added. (AP)
Iranian counterprotesters gathered across the country on Friday in a show of support for authorities after nearly a week of anti-government protests and unrest over the death of a young woman who was being held by the morality police.
A few thousand people attended a rally in the capital, Tehran, where they waved Iranian flags, and similar demonstrations were held in other cities. The government claimed the demonstrations of support were spontaneous. Similar rallies have been held during past periods of widespread protests.
The pro-government demonstrators chanted against America and Israel, according to state media, reflecting the official line that foreign countries are fomenting the latest unrest. (AP)
The popular revolt in Iran triggered by the death of a woman held by police is unlikely to pose an immediate threat to clerical rulers whose elite security forces have crushed one protest after another in recent years.
But the unrest is another crack in the structure of the Islamic Republic, which is seasoned at handling unrest over economic hardships and price rises but not the mass of women leading the biggest demonstrations since 2019. Enraged by the death last week of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested by morality police for wearing "unsuitable attire", women challenged the country's Islamic dress code and took charge, waving and burning their veils. Some publicly cut their hair as furious crowds called for the fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As the government weighs its options, Amini's case has touched a raw nerve and unleashed years of pent up anger over the mandatory hijab. Her death will embolden more and more women to challenge the government over dress restrictions even if the protests which spread to most of Iran's 31 provinces fade or are stamped out, analysts say. (Reuters)
CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour claimed that she couldn't interview Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi as his aide insisted that she wear a headscarf before Raisi.
Incidentally, the country is gripped with unrelenting protests over the death of a young woman, who was detained and allegedly tortured in custody by Iran's morality police for wearing “unsuitable attire”. At least 31 civilians losing their lives since the violent clashes erupted, reported news agency AFP.
Amanpour was set to interview Raisi in New York on Thursday, his first on US soil, as the leader was visiting the city for the ongoing United Nations General Assembly session. " After weeks of planning and eight hours of setting up translation equipment, lights and cameras, we were ready. But no sign of President Raisi," she said in a series of tweets. Read more
Protesters across Iran continued to clash violently with security forces early Friday following the death of a young woman in police custody, as Iranian state TV suggested the death toll from the unrest could be as high as 26, without offering details.
Although the scope of the protests across some dozen Iranian cities and towns remains unclear, the movement represents the widest unrest since 2019, when rights groups said hundreds of people were killed in a violent crackdown.
Iran has also disrupted internet access to the outside world, according to internet traffic monitoring group Netblocks, tightening restrictions on popular platforms used to organize rallies like Instagram and WhatsApp. (AP)
The must be “steadfastly” investigated, Iran’s president said Thursday, even as he turned the tables on the country he was visiting for the UN General Assembly and asked: What about all the people killed by American police?
“Did all these deaths get investigated?” Ebrahim Raisi said at a news conference held in New York on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the world’s leaders.
He lamented what he said were “double standards” in the West with regards to human rights. Read more
The Iranian army said on Friday it will "confront the enemies" to ensure security, the toughest warning yet to nationwide protesters enraged by the death of a woman held by police.
Iranians have staged nationwide demonstrations over the case of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died last week after being arrested by the morality police for wearing "unsuitable attire". The army said "these desperate actions are part of the evil strategy of the enemy to weaken the Islamic regime". It will "confront the enemies' various plots in order to ensure security and peace for the people who are being unjustly assaulted," it said.
More demonstrations as well as pro-government protests were planned for Friday, Iranian media said. Iranian media described the pro-governmemt marches that will begin after Friday prayers as a "roar of people's zeal against rioters". Iran's clerical rulers fear a revival of the 2019 protests that erupted over gasoline price rises, the bloodiest in the Islamic Republic's history. Reuters reported 1,500 people were killed. (Reuters)