Three weeks after the start of the protests in Iran, the authorities announced on Friday, September 30 the arrest of several foreigners who, according to them, were linked to the protest movement sparked by the death of a young woman arrested by the morality police.
In a statement, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced the arrest of “nine nationals from Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, etc.” According to him, they were arrested “at the scene of riots or have been involved in them”. Since the start of the demonstrations, the Iranian authorities have accused forces abroad, including the United States, their sworn enemy, of being behind the rallies or of inciting them.
The protests began after the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd, three days after her arrest for violating Iran’s strict dress code which notably requires women to wear the Islamic veil. The power, which denies any involvement of the police in the death of this 22-year-old woman, castigates the demonstrators qualified as“rioters”reporting hundreds of arrests.
At the same time, Iran International, a Persian television channel based in London, broadcast several videos on Friday, which AFP could not immediately authenticate, showing the repression of demonstrations. In Zahedan, in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan (southeast), men came under fire as they threw stones at a police station, according to other images released by Iran International. Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights said a number of people were killed in Zahedan.
Meanwhile, Iranian state television said gunmen opened fire there on Friday and threw Molotov cocktails at a police station. “Several police officers and bystanders were injured in the exchange of fire”, she added. The police chief of Sistan-Baluchistan declared on official television that three police stations in this province had been attacked, without giving a toll.
According to the Iranian news agency Fars, around 60 people have been killed since the protests began, while the NGO Iran Human Rights has reported at least 83 dead. Amnesty International has denounced the use by the security forces of violence “ruthless”, citing the use of live ammunition and lead pellets, beatings and sexual violence against women. Authorities have reported the arrest of more than 1,200 protesters since September 16. Activists, lawyers and journalists were also arrested, according to NGOs.