Tehran, Sept. 16 (EFE) – Iran marked the first anniversary of Masha Amini’s death on Saturday with an enormous security presence and repression that did not even allow the young woman’s family to visit her grave.
Amini’s death on September 16, 2022, after being arrested by the morality police for not wearing her veil properly, sparked months of protests calling for the end of the Islamic Republic, which subsided only after a repression that left 500 dead and at least 22,000 detained.
A year later, the Persian nation awoke to an armored police presence on the streets of cities like Tehran, with riot police every few meters and troops patrolling the cities.
There were only sporadic incidents throughout the day in some parts of the country, activists said.
On Friday, some shouted from the windows of buildings against Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and chanted the protest slogan “Women, Life, Freedom.”
AMINI FAMILY
In Saqez, Amini’s hometown in Iranian Kurdistan, Revolutionary Guard forces were deployed days ago to prevent protests, activists said.
Authorities prevented Amini’s family from holding a ceremony at the Aichi cemetery, where she is buried, and where the first veils flew and the first chants of “woman, life and freedom” were heard during her funeral a year ago.
On Saturday, Amini’s father was detained for a few hours to warn him not to commemorate the anniversary of his daughter’s death, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR).
“Security forces are preventing him from visiting his daughter’s grave,” said the organization, which opposes the Iranian government.
Iran’s official agency denied Amjad Amini’s arrest, saying this news aimed to incite the population to protest.
A YEAR OF REPRESSION
IRNA also reported that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met on Friday with relatives of security officials who died in the protests, including two members of the Basiji Islamic militia.
The deaths of the two militiamen were attributed to young Majid Reza Rahnavard, who was sentenced to death and publicly hanged in December, one of seven protesters executed for their participation in the protests.
In the weeks leading up to the anniversary of the young woman’s death, the authorities stepped up repression by arresting activists and journalists and shutting down media outlets.
Dozens of relatives of those killed in the demonstrations have suffered arbitrary arrests, restrictions on peaceful gatherings in places where graves are located, and the destruction of tombstones, Amnesty International reported.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE WEST
The Iranian government has once again accused Western countries of trying to provoke sedition on its territory by announcing new sanctions and calls to end discrimination against women on the occasion of the anniversary.
The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Naser Kanani, reiterated that the latest sanctions against his country and the expressions of support for the Iranian ones are “a desperate attempt to create sedition in the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
PROTESTS AROUND THE WORLD
Meanwhile, the Iranian opposition called for demonstrations in several cities around the world to mark the anniversary of Masha Amini’s death and to demand freedom for women in Iran.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Saturday near the Iranian embassy in Rome, in Parliament Square in London and near Berlin’s iconic Angel.
In Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that a garden in the 10th district of the French capital would now bear Amini’s name.
Events were also held in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
In Brussels, European Union (EU) High Representative Josep Borrell on Friday urged Iran to eliminate “all forms of systemic discrimination against women, one year after the death of young Masha Amini following her arrest by Iran’s morality police.
US President Joe Biden issued a lengthy statement on Friday marking the anniversary of Amini’s death, and the United States announced new sanctions against Iranian officials and entities, as did the UK. EFE
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