PARIS —
Iranian schoolgirls have come to the fore in protests over the death of
Mahsa Amini, removing their hijabs and staging sporadic rallies in defiance of a
lethal crackdown by the security forces.
اضافة اعلان
Amini, 22, was pronounced dead days after the
notorious morality police detained the Iranian Kurd last month for allegedly
breaching the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
Anger flared at her funeral and spread to become the
biggest wave of protests to rock Iran in almost three years, despite the
backlash by the security forces that has killed scores and seen hundreds
arrested.
Students rallied at the weekend before being confronted
by riot police who cornered them in an underground car park of Tehran’s
prestigious Sharif
University of Technology before hauling them away.
Schoolgirls have since taken up the baton around the
country, removing their hijabs, shouting anti-regime slogans and defacing
images of the clerical state’s leaders.
“Death to the dictator,” a group of bare-headed
girls is heard chanting in reference to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
as they force a man, reportedly the principal, out of a school in Karaj, west
of Tehran, on Monday in a video verified by AFP.
Another group of girls sang “Woman, life, freedom”,
as they marched through the Karaj neighborhood of Gohardasht.
“These are really extraordinary scenes. If these
protests are going to achieve anything, it will be because of the schoolgirls,”
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj of the Bourse & Bazaar news and analysis website
tweeted in response.
Schoolgirls were also seen leaving classrooms and
appearing in flash-mob protests to avoid detection, in other footage shared
online.
One boisterous group of girls were yelling “Get
lost, Basiji”, in reference to the paramilitary force, at a man standing at a
podium in the southern city of Shiraz, in a video shared by the 1500tasvir
social media channel.
AFP has been unable to independently verify the
footage.
Singer silenced
In a widening crackdown,
Iran has rounded up high profile supporters of the movement and blocked social
media access.
On Tuesday night, Iranian pop singer
Shervin Hajipour, who was arrested after his song in support of the protests went viral
and became an anthem for the movement, was freed on bail.
“I’m here to say I’m okay. But I am sorry that some
particular movements based outside of Iran — which I have had no relations with
— made some improper political uses of this song,” he told his 1.9 million
Instagram followers shortly after his release.
Iran’s judiciary meanwhile denied there was any link
between the death of teenage girl Nika Shakrami and the protests, after reports
she was killed during the unrest.
BBC Persian and Iran Wire said authorities had taken
possession of her body and secretly buried her on Monday to avoid a funeral
that could spark more protests.
At least 92 protesters have been killed in the
unrest, according to Oslo-based group
Iran Human Rights (IHR).
Amnesty
International has confirmed 53 deaths, while Fars news agency put the death
toll at “around 60” last week. At least 12 security personnel have been
reported killed. More than 1,000 have been arrested, but the judiciary said
more than 620 protesters had been released from jail just in Tehran province.
Another 63 people were killed last week when
security forces “bloodily suppressed” a protest in Zahedan, near Iran’s
southeastern border with Pakistan, said IHR.
The clashes erupted after Friday prayers during
protests sparked by accusations a police chief in the region had raped a
teenage girl of the Baluch Sunni minority, it said.
Sanctions loom
The crackdown has drawn
global condemnation.
On Tuesday the EU joined the US in warning that it
was looking to impose tough new sanctions on Iran over the bloody crackdown.
Proposed punitive measures targeting senior Iranian
officials include “freezing their assets and their right to travel”, French
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the EU it could expect “reciprocal action”.
Iran has repeatedly accused outside forces of
stoking the unrest.
On Wednesday, it summoned British ambassador Simon
Shercliff to hear a protest over “meddlesome statements”.
The unrest has overshadowed efforts to revive a 2015
nuclear deal between Iran and major powers that had come close to a
breakthrough in recent months before stalling again. But the White House said
the “problems with Iran’s behavior” are separate from efforts to revive the
nuclear deal.
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