Iran’s leadership holds crisis meeting as protests rage nationwide

Tehran

Iran’s political leadership has held a crisis meeting as protests across the country gain intensity, unleashed by the death of a woman in custody for failing to cover her hair according to the strict Islamic dress code nearly a month ago.

President Ebrahim Raisi, the speaker of parliament and the head of the judiciary took part in the meeting, the presidential office said on Sunday.

They called on the people to preserve national unity and stand against the “hostile plots” of the enemies of the Islamic system, in a joint press statement issued by the presidential office.

Iran has been swept by protests for weeks following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the morality police in Tehran for violating the country’s strict dress regulations for women.

On Saturday evening, the protests also reached TV viewers, when two channels of the IRIB state broadcaster were hacked, according to the Shargh newspaper.

News broadcasts on the two channels were briefly interrupted and pictures of Amini as well as some women who had died in the protests were shown, Shargh reported on Sunday. “Stand up and join us,” read a message from the hackers.

The activist group Edaalate Ali (Ali’s justice) claimed the attack. A mask by the Anonymous collective, which has hacked several Iranian authorities in recent weeks, was also shown on screen.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

The cause of Amini’s death in police custody remains unclear. While critics believe police brutality is to blame, the authorities insist that she died of heart failure.

Since Amini’s death there have been nationwide and international protests against Iran’s leadership and specifically the headscarf mandate.

The security forces have responded with a deadly crackdown, with dozens said to have been killed and many more injured.

Iran’s leadership has blamed the West for the protests, attributing the unrest to a “conspiracy” involving the United States, Israel and “Iranian traitors abroad.” Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi on Sunday declared the demontrastions over, saying that calm and security had been restored apart from “a few smaller riots.” According to images and videos circulating on social media, however, protests continued nationwide on Sunday.

Addressing protesters directly, Mirahmadi said: “They won’t be released again after being arrested and remain in custody until their trial.”

Witnesses said late on Saturday both protesters and security forces were increasingly willing to use violence.

The police allegedly not only used tear gas against the demonstrators, but also fired paintball ammunition at them. This is usually done to mark the people that are to be arrested.

The demonstrators reportedly threw Molotov cocktails at the officers and set fire to mobile police stations.

A young driver in the western city of Sanandaj was killed during a demonstration after being shot in the head, according to eye witnesses. Demonstrators accused the police of killing the man, while the police blamed protesters for his death.

Earlier on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock strongly criticized the Iranian leadership.

“Anyone who beats up women and girls in the streets, abducts people who want nothing more than to live freely, arbitrarily arrests them, sentences them to death, is on the wrong side of history,” Baerbock told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

She said the European Union would impose entry bans on those responsible for suppressing protests and freeze their assets in the bloc.

– Ranjith Perera –