Iran lawmakers chant ‘thanks, police’ regardless of rising public fury over lady’s dying By Reuters

By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranian lawmakers chanted “thanks, police” throughout a parliament session on Sunday, in a present of assist for a fierce crackdown on widespread anti-government protests towards the dying of a younger lady in police custody.

The protests, sparked by the dying of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini from Iranian Kurdistan, have spiralled into the most important present of opposition to Iran’s authorities in years, with many calling for the tip of greater than 4 many years of Islamic clerical rule.

Pledging allegiance to the Islamic Republic’s prime authority Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the lawmakers chanted: “The blood in our veins is a present to our chief”, a video shared on Iranian state media confirmed.

A minimum of 52 individuals have died within the crackdown, in keeping with a tally by rights group Amnesty Worldwide. Iranian authorities say many members of the safety forces have been killed by “rioters and thugs backed by overseas foes”.

Khamenei has not commented on the protests, which started at Amini’s funeral on Sept. 17 and rapidly unfold to Iran’s 31 provinces, with all layers of society, together with ethnic and spiritual minorities, collaborating.

A number of distinguished soccer gamers who’re stars in Iran and round Asia, together with the previous captain of Iran’s nationwide workforce, Ali Daei, have criticised the repression of protesters. Some social media posts urged that Daei has been banned from leaving Iran. Reuters couldn’t affirm the report.

The protests haven’t abated regardless of the rising dying toll and the crackdown by safety forces utilizing tear gasoline, golf equipment, and in some circumstances, in keeping with movies on social media and rights teams, reside ammunition.

Movies on social media confirmed demonstrations in a number of cities equivalent to Kermanshah, Shiraz and Mashhad on Sunday, with members chanting “independence, freedom, dying to Khamenei”.

Activist Twitter (NYSE:) account 1500tasvir, which has greater than 160,000 followers, posted a video of protesters within the central metropolis of Isfahan calling for a nationwide strike and organising a highway block to carry truck drivers to their ranks. Reuters couldn’t confirm the movies.

Iranian state media shared a video of pro-government college students, who gathered on the Ferdowsi college in Mashhad, chanting “the Islamic Republic is our crimson line”.

DEATH IN COMA

Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 in Tehran for “unsuitable apparel” by the morality police who implement the Islamic Republic’s strict gown code. She died three days later in hospital after falling right into a coma.

The lawyer for Amini’s household, Saleh Nikbakht, instructed the semi-official Etemadonline information web site that “respectable docs” imagine she was hit in custody. Amini’s post-mortem report and different medical particulars haven’t been launched, however her father stated he noticed bruises on her leg and that different girls detained together with her stated she was overwhelmed.

Iran’s police authorities say Amini died of a coronary heart assault and deny she was overwhelmed to dying in custody.

The nation’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation into Amini’s dying. He stated final week {that a} forensic report can be introduced in “coming days”.

Amnesty Worldwide on Friday reported 52 individuals killed within the protests, with lots of injured and 1000’s arrested. Iranian state media stated final week, 41 individuals, together with safety forces, had been killed.

Amini’s dying and the crackdown have drawn worldwide criticism of Iran’s rulers, who in flip accuse america and a few European nations of exploiting the unrest to attempt to destabilise the Islamic Republic.

Iran stated final week it had arrested 9 individuals from Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and different nations for his or her function within the protests.