Iranian police open fire on moruners at hijab protest

Video shared online from the protests raging across the country showed a young woman shot in the head by security forces.

Iranian security forces warning residents in a complex in the Chitgar district of the capital Tehran. Picture: UGC via AFP

Troops opened fire on protesters on Thursday on the 49th day of unrest that has rocked Iran’s dictatorial regime.

Video shared online from the protests raging across the country showed a young woman shot in the head by security forces in Isfahan and rioters setting fire to police kiosks and vehicles.

Violence continued to flare on Thursday night around gatherings to commemorate the ­activists killed since protests began over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested for not wearing her Islamic headscarf properly. In Tehran, video showed a two-year-old child wounded by birdshot while youths took to the streets, chanting: “A thousand people are ­behind every slain protester.”

The Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran has logged the names of at least 300 people killed since protests began in September. Almost 50 of them are younger than 18.

Iran blames foreign influence for the unrest, the worst since the 1979 revolution. For seven weeks demonstrators have called for the downfall of the theocratic ­regime and “death to the dictator”, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran University professor widely regarded as a mouthpiece for the regime, shared footage on Twitter of attacks on police, militia and a cleric. He blamed the violence on “Western/Saudi backed thugs and rioters”.

Human rights organisations are campaigning against mass public trials for protesters that have been announced recently, with charges already being ­issued that could carry a death sentence. Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the Centre for Human Rights in Iran, said the international community must make it clear to the regime that death sentences for protesters would lead to the Islamic ­republic’s further isolation.

Ali Alghasi Mehr, the public prosecutor for Tehran province, said last month that about 1000 indictments had been issued in connection with the riots.

The Times