The United States’ support for the “rebels” contradicts Washington’s diplomatic position on Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Sunday, according to the semi-official ISNA agency, taken by Reuters.

“Peaceful protests are the right of every nation. But the US interference in Iran’s internal affairs and the support given to the “rebels” in the implementation of their destabilization project clearly contradict Washington’s diplomatic messages to Iran regarding the need for a nuclear agreement and ensuring stability in the region,” Amirabdollahian said.

New demonstrations of protest against the death of an arrested young woman took place in Iran by the police, despite a crackdown that led to at least 41 deaths and hundreds of arrests in eight days.

Authorities deny any involvement in Mahsa Amini’s death on September 16, three days after she was arrested for not following the Islamic Republic’s dress code.

But after the death of a 22-year-old resident of Northwestern Kurdistan, protesters take to the streets in anger every night.

In Iran, women must cover their hair and body below the knee, and must not wear tight trousers or jeans with holes.

President Raisi threatens decisive action

Viral footage of the protests shows Iranian women burning their headscarves in recent days.

The reformist People’s Union of Islamic Iran party on Saturday called on the state to lift the veil requirement and release those arrested.

At the same time, ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi has promised to act “resolutely” against the demonstrators, whom the authorities call “rebels” or “counter-revolutionaries”.

Witnesses reported a large police presence at an intersection in the north of the Iranian capital in the evening.

Dozens of dead and hundreds of arrests

State television put the new death toll at 41 “during the recent unrest” on Saturday night.

But the death toll could be higher, with the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) reporting at least 54 deaths in the crackdown on protests.

Mahsa Amini was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for “wearing inappropriate clothing” by police enforcing the dress code. She died in hospital three days later.

Since then, Iranian men and women have held demonstrations at dusk in dozens of cities across the country, including the capital Tehran or Isfahan, as well as Qom (center) and Mashhad (north).

The demonstrations were marked by clashes with security forces and police cars were set on fire by protesters chanting anti-Islamic Republic slogans.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested. In the northern province of Gilan alone, “739 insurgents, including 60 women,” were arrested, the police chief was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

According to the IHR, about half of the 54 dead were in this province and neighboring Mazandaran province.

The NGO said that in many cases, “handover of bodies to families is due to secret burial.”

The American Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that since September 19, 17 journalists have been arrested in Iran.

Iran, as always, blames the US

Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi said he was relying on witnesses, video footage and forensic evidence to confirm that Mahsa Amini was not beaten by police, as her relatives claimed, and that an investigation into her death was ongoing.

The minister accused the protesters of “listening to the USA, European countries and counter-revolutionary groups”.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani warned on Twitter that “efforts to violate Iran’s sovereignty will not go unanswered,” condemning “US attempts to destabilize” Iran.