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TEHRAN: Thousands demonstrated across Iran on Friday at government-backed pro-hijab counter rallies, after a week of bloody protests over the death of a woman arrested for wearing the Islamic headscarf \u201cimproperly.\u201d
\nAt least 50 people have been killed by security forces in the anti-government protests, Iran Human Rights, an Oslo-based organization, said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, state media has reported that at least 35 have been killed in more than a week of protests that erupted in Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody.
\n\u201cThe number of people who died in recent riots in the country has risen to 35 people,\u201d the Borna news agency, which is affiliated to the sports ministry, said late Friday, citing state television.<\/p>\n
The street violence, which IHR says has spread to 80 towns and cities, was triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd who had spent three days in a coma after being detained by the morality police in Tehran.
\nAs part of the crackdown, Iran has imposed tough restrictions on the use of the Internet in a bid to hamper protesters gathering and stop the flow of images of the backlash from reaching the outside world.
\nThe US\u00a0announced Friday it was easing export restrictions on Iran to expand Internet services, days after SpaceX owner Elon Musk said he would seek an exemption from sanctions to offer his company\u2019s Starlink satellite service in the Islamic republic.
\nThe new measure will allow technology companies to \u201cexpand the range of Internet services available to Iranians,\u201d Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.
\nOn Friday, thousands took to the streets in support of the hijab and a conservative dress code at government-backed counter rallies in Tehran and other cities including Ahvaz, Isfahan, Qom and Tabriz.
\n\u201cThe great demonstration of the Iranian people condemning the conspirators and the sacrileges against religion took place today,\u201d Iran\u2019s Mehr news agency said.
\nState television broadcast footage of pro-hijab demonstrators in central Tehran, many of them men but also women dressed in black chadors.
\nAmini died on September 16, three days after she was hospitalized following her arrest by the morality police, the unit responsible for enforcing the Islamic republic\u2019s strict dress code for women.
\nActivists said she suffered a blow to the head in custody but this has not been confirmed by the Iranian authorities, who have opened an investigation.
\nAfter she was pronounced dead, angry protests flared and spread to major cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz and Tabriz as well as the capital.
\nIn the latest violence, security forces fired \u201csemi-heavy weapons\u201d at demonstrators during overnight clashes in the northern city of Oshnaviyeh, the Oslo-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw said on Friday. The report could not be independently verified.
\nIn nearby Babol, demonstrators were seen setting ablaze a large billboard bearing the image of Iran\u2019s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in videos shared online.
\nIran Human Rights said that its updated toll of 50 dead included six people who were killed by fire from security forces in the town of Rezvanshahr in the northern Gilan province on Thursday night, while the other deaths were recorded in Babol and Amol.
\nA previous toll from the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) put the death toll at 36.
\nSome women demonstrators have defiantly taken off their hijabs and burned them in bonfires or symbolically cut their hair before cheering crowds, video footage spread virally on social media has shown.
\nSecurity forces have arrested activists including Majid Tavakoli, who has been repeatedly imprisoned in recent years, including after disputed 2009 elections.
\nDemonstrators have hurled stones at them, set fire to police cars and chanted anti-government slogans, IRNA reported.
\n\u201cThe government has responded with live ammunition, pellet guns and tear gas, according to videos shared on social media that have also shown protesters bleeding profusely,\u201d the CHRI said.
\nInternet access has been restricted in what web monitor NetBlocks has called a \u201ccurfew-style pattern of disruptions\u201d amid the angry protests sparked by Amini\u2019s death.
\n\u201cOnline platforms remained restricted and connectivity is intermittent for many users and mobile Internet was disrupted for a third day on Friday,\u201d NetBlocks said.
\nAccess to social media services, Instagram and WhatsApp have been blocked since Wednesday night, and connections were still largely disrupted on Friday.
\nThe measure was taken in response to \u201cthe actions carried out via these social networks by counter-revolutionaries against national security,\u201d Iran\u2019s Fars news agency said.
\nPresident Ebrahim Raisi, at a news conference in New York where he attended the UN General Assembly, said: \u201cWe must differentiate between demonstrators and vandalism.\u201d
\nThe unrest comes at a particularly sensitive time for the leadership, as the Iranian economy remains mired in a crisis largely caused by sanctions over its nuclear program.<\/p>\n
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TEHRAN: Thousands demonstrated across Iran on Friday at government-backed pro-hijab counter rallies, after a week of bloody protests over the death of a woman arrested for wearing the Islamic headscarf \u201cimproperly.\u201d At least 50 people have been killed by security forces in the anti-government protests, Iran Human Rights, an Oslo-based organization, said on Friday. Meanwhile, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10221280388112155_325455220908133":"","twitter_917774835383787521_917774835383787521":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182832"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182838,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182832\/revisions\/182838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wardoon.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}