Fresh demonstrations took place in Iran on Saturday night against the death of a young woman arrested by police, despite a crackdown that has led to 41 deaths and hundreds of arrests in eight days, AFP reported.

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.

A viral video, believed to have been filmed on Saturday night, shows a woman walking with her head uncovered and waving her veil in the middle of a street in Tehran, defying a strict dress code.

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 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 released a new death toll of 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, Isfahan and 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 Guilan alone, “739 insurgents, including 60 women” were arrested, the police chief said on Saturday, as quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

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. –

Repression with ammunition

For several days, online leaks showed scenes of violence in Tehran and other major cities such as Tabriz (northwest).

Some videos show security forces shooting at demonstrators.

Amnesty International has accused security forces of “deliberately firing live ammunition at demonstrators”, calling for “immediate international action to end the repression”.

Internet connectivity was still disrupted on Saturday and WhatsApp and Instagram were blocked. NetBlocks, a London-based site that tracks internet blocking around the world, also reported that access to Skype had been shut down.

The Kurdish rights group Hengaw reported that the protesters had taken control of part of the northwestern city of Oshnaviya.

The video shows protesters marching with a victory sign.

The judiciary acknowledged that “insurgents (there) attacked three Basij bases”, referring to the Islamic militia.

But, according to his agency, he denied that security forces had lost control of the Kurdistan Region’s town of Oshnawiyah.