Iran must act decisively against protests that have spread across the country after a young woman died in moral police custody, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

“Strong measures must be taken against those who oppose security and peace in the country,” the president told the authorities after returning to the country from the UN General Assembly.

Ebrahim Raisi “stressed the need to distinguish between protests and violations of public order and security, and called the events a riot,” public media from Tehran reported.

The protests began last Friday after a 22-year-old young woman died in the custody of the morality police after she was arrested for wearing the Islamic veil incorrectly. Meanwhile, demonstrations have spread across the country, and their crackdown has so far led to more than 50 deaths and hundreds of arrests, according to some NGOs.

President Ibrahim Raisi opened the academic year at a college in Tehran on Saturday, but face-to-face classes were immediately suspended across Iran as part of anti-protest measures.

At this time, Iran’s main reformist party, the People’s Union of Islamic Iran, called on the state to abolish the mandatory wearing of the Islamic headscarf. This formation, close to former reformist president Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), also demanded the abolition of “moral police” and permission for peaceful demonstrations, reports AFP.

In support of protesters in Iran, Washington on Friday allowed US internet companies to provide their services in Iran after Tehran resorted to shutting down the internet as a way to deal with ongoing demonstrations.

Following the decision, the US Treasury Department, which maintains tough sanctions against Iran, issued a blanket license that would allow “tech companies to improve digital services offered to Iranians, from cloud access to tools to improve online security and privacy.”