Around 80,000 people took part in a rally in Berlin on Saturday in solidarity with women-led protests in Iran sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, a police spokesman told AFP.

“Today, thousands of people are showing their solidarity with courageous women and demonstrators in Iran,” tweeted the German Green Party Minister for Family Affairs, Lisa Paus. “We are by your side,” she added.

Some protesters, joining a rally called by a women’s collective, waved slogans like “Women, Life, Freedom” and waved Kurdish flags.

Under the bright autumn sunshine, the participants peacefully made their way towards the city center while police helicopters patrolled their progress.

Iran has seen increasingly women-led protests for about six weeks, and on Saturday shopkeepers and factory workers went on strike as citizens reacted furiously to the death of Amini, a 22-year-old in custody for allegedly violating the strict dress code of the country was arrested for women.

The protests are the largest in years in the Islamic Republic and stem from rallies in 2019 sparked by skyrocketing fuel price hikes.

Young women have led the charge, removed their headscarves, chanted anti-government slogans and confronted the security forces.

The Oslo-based Iranian human rights group says at least 122 people – including some children – have died in the unrest.