US utilizing unrest to weaken nation, says Iran amid anti-hijab protests

Iran confronted extra worldwide criticism on Monday over the dying of a lady in police custody that triggered nationwide protests after Tehran accused the United States of utilizing the unrest to attempt to destabilise the nation.

Iran has cracked down on the most important demonstrations since 2019, sparked by the dying of 22-year-old Kurdish lady Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 after she was detained by morality police implementing the Islamic Republic’s strict restrictions on girls’s gown. The case has drawn widespread condemnation.

But the measures haven’t stopped Iranians from calling for the autumn of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the remainder of the clerical institution.

Canada will impose sanctions on these accountable for the dying of Amini, together with Iran’s morality police unit and its management, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on Monday.

“We’ve seen Iran disregarding human rights time and time again, now we see it with the death of Mahsa Amini and the crackdown on protests,” Trudeau informed reporters in Ottawa.

Activist Twitter account 1500tasvir posted movies it stated confirmed road protests late on Monday in numerous elements of Tehran, and photographs the place residents could possibly be heard shouting “Death to Khamenei” from their properties. Reuters couldn’t confirm the movies.

Women have performed a distinguished function within the protests, waving and burning their veils.

Human rights group Hengaw posted a video which it stated confirmed protesters cheering in Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan province, as girls took off their headscarves to protest pressured hijab. In a later video, heavy capturing could possibly be heard as streets seemed to be crammed with tear fuel.

Another video posted on social media purported to indicate safety forces opening fireplace late on Monday throughout protests in Sardasht, a city with a big Kurdish inhabitants. Reuters couldn’t confirm the movies.

Iran stated the United States was supporting rioters and looking for to destabilise the Islamic Republic.

“Washington is always trying to weaken Iran’s stability and security although it has been unsuccessful,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani stated in an announcement.

On his Instagram web page, Kanaani accused the leaders of the United States and a few European international locations of abusing a tragic incident in help of “rioters” and ignoring “the presence of millions of people in the streets and squares of the country in support of the system”.

ENVOY SUMMONED

Also on Monday, Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador in Berlin to induce Tehran to cease its crackdown and permit peaceable protests. Asked about the potential of additional sanctions on Tehran in response to the violence, a German overseas ministry spokesperson had earlier stated, “We will consider all options” with different European Union states. learn extra

Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran’s morality police over allegations of abuse of Iranian girls, saying it held the unit accountable for the dying of Amini.

Students from the Dentistry Faculty of the University of Tabriz, apart from the emergency division, took half in a strike on Monday and refused to take part in lessons, stated the activist Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

The strikes had been performed to protest towards widespread arrests of scholars and forceful encounters with safety forces in Iranian universities, it stated.

On Sunday, Iran summoned the British and Norwegian ambassadors over what it known as interference and hostile media protection of the unrest.

STRIKE CALL

The anti-government protests are the most important to brush Iran since demonstrations over gas costs in 2019, when Reuters reported 1,500 individuals had been killed in a crackdown on protesters – the bloodiest bout of inside unrest within the Islamic Republic’s historical past.

At least 41 individuals have been killed since Sept. 17, in response to state TV.

President Ebrahim Raisi has stated Iran ensures freedom of expression and that he has ordered an investigation into Amini’s dying.

A number one Iranian lecturers’ union, in an announcement posted on social media on Sunday, known as for lecturers and college students to stage the primary nationwide strike for the reason that unrest started, on Monday and Wednesday.

In a video circulating on social media, the sister of a person killed within the anti-government demonstrations, Javad Heydari, minimize her hair on his grave in defiance of Iran’s Islamic gown code. Reuters couldn’t confirm the authenticity of the video.

The state has organised rallies to attempt to defuse the disaster.

Although the demonstrations over Amini’s dying are a serious problem to the federal government, analysts see no rapid menace to Iran’s leaders as a result of the elite safety forces have stamped out protests previously.

Iran has blamed armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement within the unrest, significantly within the northwest the place most of Iran’s as much as 10 million Kurds reside.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched an artillery and drone assault on Iranian militant opposition bases within the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, the second such assault in two days, state media stated.

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