The official death toll has almost doubled to 35 in a crackdown by Iranian security forces after more than a week of protests that broke out after the death of a young woman in custody.
Angry protesters have taken to the streets in major cities in Iran, including the capital Tehran, for eight nights since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
The Kurdish woman has been pronounced dead after being in a coma for three days after being arrested by Iran’s feared morality police for wearing the hijab headscarf in an “improper” manner.
“The number of people killed in the recent unrest in the country has risen to 35,” state media said, raising the official figure of at least 17 dead, including five security forces.
Protests erupted across the Islamic Republic on Friday, with online videos showing some in Tehran and other major cities, including Tabriz, turning violent.
Some footage showed security forces firing what appeared to be live ammunition at unarmed protesters in the northwestern cities of Piranshahr, Mahabad and Urmia.
In a video shared by the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights, a uniformed member of the security forces is seen firing an AK-47 assault rifle at protesters on Tehran’s Ferdowsi Boulevard.
Other footage showed a “stream of state security forces…on a highway in Tehran” on Friday night.
Security forces have carried out a spate of arrests of activists and journalists, including Niloufar Hamedi of the reformist newspaper Shargh, who covered Amini’s death.
– Internet failure –
Elsewhere, Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw said protesters had “taken control” of parts of the town of Oshnaviyeh in western Azerbaijan province.
Pictures showed protesters walking free with their hands raised in triumph, but Hengaw acknowledged this could be “temporary” and expressed fears of a new crackdown there.
Amnesty International warned late Friday of “the risk of further bloodshed amid a deliberately imposed internet blackout”.
The London-based human rights group said evidence it collected from 20 cities across Iran pointed to “a harrowing pattern by Iranian security forces intentionally and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters.”
In its statement, Amnesty said security forces shot dead at least 19 people, including at least three children, on Wednesday night alone.
Thousands of people marched through Tehran on Friday during a pro-Hijab rally, paying tribute to security forces who had crushed protests by so-called “conspirators” for a week.
Demonstrations in support of the security forces were also held in several cities across the country, including Ahvaz, Isfahan, Qom and Tabriz.
Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s Morality Police, a unit responsible for enforcing the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.
Activists said she suffered a blow to the head while in custody, but this has not been confirmed by Iranian authorities, who have launched an investigation.
Iranian women have burned their headscarves and symbolically cut their hair in protest at the strict dress code, echoed in solidarity demonstrations from New York to Istanbul and Brussels to Santiago, Chile.
– ‘Toothless’ –
On Friday night, Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi insisted Amini had not been beaten.
“Reports were received from regulators, witnesses were interviewed, videos were reviewed, forensic reports were obtained and it was determined that there had been no beating,” Vahidi said.
The minister said Iran is investigating the cause of Amini’s death, adding: “We have to wait for the coroner’s final opinion, which will take time.”
Amnesty International dismissed Iran’s investigation and called on the world to take “meaningful action” against the bloody crackdown.
“UN member states must go beyond toothless declarations, hear calls for justice from victims and human rights defenders in Iran, and urgently establish an independent UN investigative mechanism,” said Heba Morayef, his director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Iran has imposed strict restrictions on the use of the internet to hamper the gathering of protesters and prevent images of the backlash from reaching the outside world.
The United States announced on Friday that it would ease export restrictions on Iran to expand internet services.
The new measures would “help counter the Iranian government’s efforts to monitor and censor its citizens,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said.
