Young girls notably chanted “Death to the dictator” on Monday, in reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in a school west of Tehran.
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Iranian schoolgirls have dared to remove their headscarves and have been organizing rallies for the past few days to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, defying the deadly crackdown on protests that have been taking place for nearly three weeks in Iran. Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri admitted on Wednesday September 5 that young people were involved in the protests, denouncing the influence of social networks. “The fact that 16-year-olds are present in these events is caused by social networks, they are trapped”he said, quoted by the ISNA agency.
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In a video verified by AFP, young girls, their heads unveiled, chant “Death to the Dictator”, in reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Monday in a school in Karaj, west of Tehran. Another group of girls chants “Woman, life, freedom” marching down a street. Other videos posted online show schoolgirls leaving classrooms to march through various locations around the city in flash protests to avoid detection. AFP was unable to independently verify these images.
This the image & voice of the new Iran! Highschool girls singing #ShervinHajipour‘s song without hijab. The song that has been written based on Tweets for #MahsaAmini‘s protest, mentioning the reasons for the uprising & has become the anthem of #IranRevolution pic.twitter.com/lXozo9aXiZ
— Masih Alinejad ️ (@AlinejadMasih) October 3, 2022
“These are truly extraordinary scenes. If these demonstrations are to lead to anything, it will be thanks to the schoolgirls”, said Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, of the information and analysis site Bourse&Bazaar. At least 92 people have been killed since September 16, according to the NGO Iran Human Rights, based in Oslo (Norway), while the authorities put forward a balance sheet of around 60 dead, including 12 members of the security forces.
Mahsa Amini, a young Kurd Iranian woman, 22, died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the police of the mœurs for violation of the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic which in particular obliges women to wear the veil. Anger erupted during his burial and spread across the country. The protests have become the largest in Iran since those in 2019 against rising gasoline prices.