Iran protest: State-sponsored marches demand the death penalty for protesters.
Intense clashes between protesters and security personnel erupted across Iran on Friday. The protest occurred in response to the murder of Mahsa Amini following her detention by the morality police.
The cities involved in the Iran protest and their demands
On Friday, protesters across Iran continued to engage security personnel in violent altercations. In response to anti-government demonstrations, several Iranian cities saw state-sponsored protests, with some protesters demanding the hanging or murder of “rioters.”
Thousands of people participated in counter marches in favor of the hijab and a strict clothing code. The marches were organized by the government on Friday in Tehran and other cities. This includes Ahvaz, Isfahan, Qom, and Tabriz.
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Since Mahsa died while in police custody, there has been fury, and women have taken to the streets to burn their hijabs (headscarves). Some people have also uploaded footage of themselves cutting their hair on social media.
5 notable points about the protest:
1. Mahsa Amini, a woman who was arrested by the morality police, died on September 16, three days after being admitted. It (the Morality Police) is a division in charge of enforcing the Islamic Republic’s stringent clothing code for women. According to press reports, the 22-year-old passed away after having a “heart attack.”
2. The official death toll from the battles is still at least 17. This includes five members of the security forces, but the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), located in New York, estimated the number at 36 and predicted it would go up.
Iranian President Reaction
3. Iranian President Ahmed Raisi terminated a long-planned interview with CNN’s senior journalist Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday. The reason for this was that she refused his request that she wear a scarf over her head. In a number of tweets, Amanpour said that Raisi’s assistant made it plain that an interview would not take place if she did not wear a headscarf. The reason given was that it was the month of Muharram and Safar and that it was thus “a question of respect”.
4. At the weekly prayers in Tehran, Imam Seyed Ahmad Khatami set the tone by pleading with “the court to act swiftly against the rioters who brutalize people, set fire to public property, and burn the Koran.”
5. The Iranian army issued a warning to angry protestors on Friday. The warning states, “These desperate activities are part of the enemy’s nefarious agenda to destabilize the Islamic republic.” According to a statement from the military, it will “confront the adversaries’ different plans in order to maintain security and tranquilly for the people who are being unfairly attacked.” According to the AsrIran, intelligence minister Mahmoud Alavi also issued a warning to “seditionists” on Friday. It states that their “goal of overthrowing Islamic principles and the tremendous accomplishments of the revolution would never be accomplished.”
