In this image from surveillance video aired by Iranian state television, women pull 16-year-old Armita Geravand from a train car on the Tehran Metro in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

An Iranian teenage girl injured weeks ago in a mysterious incident on Tehran’s Metro while not wearing a head scarf has died, Iranian state media reported Saturday.

The death of Armita Geravand comes after her being in a coma for weeks in Tehran and after the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and the nationwide protests it sparked.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported her death.

What happened in the few seconds after Armita Geravand entered the train on October 1 remains in question.

Explained | Mahsa Amini and the widespread protests in Iran 

While a friend told Iranian state television that she hit her head on the station’s platform, the soundless footage aired by the broadcaster from outside of the car is blocked by a bystander. Just seconds later, her limp body is carried off.

Geravand’s mother and father appeared in state media footage saying a blood pressure issue, a fall or perhaps both contributed to their daughter’s injury.

Activists abroad have alleged Geravand may have been pushed or attacked because she was not wearing the hijab. They demanded an independent investigation by the United Nations’ fact-finding mission on Iran, citing the theocracy’s use of pressure on victims’ families and state TV’s history of airing hundreds of coerced confessions.

Women take part in a rally on the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini which prompted protests across the country, in Istanbul, Turkey on September 16, 2023. The Banner reads, “We revolt against the world for Mahsa Amini”.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Iran’s judiciary on October 22 announced lengthy jail sentences for two female journalists who were arrested after reporting on the death last year of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests.

Elaheh Mohammadi, 36, and Niloufar Hamedi, 31, were both found guilty of collaboration with Iran’s arch enemy the United States, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

In its ruling, the Revolutionary Court sentenced Ms. Mohammadi to six years in jail, and Ms. Hamedi was handed seven years in prison, said Mizan.

The pair were also each given five-year sentences for conspiring against state security and one for propaganda against the Islamic republic, the website said, adding that the sentences would be served concurrently.

Ms. Mohammadi, a reporter for Ham Mihan newspaper, and Ms. Hamedi, a photographer for Shargh newspaper, have been held in Tehran’s Evin prison since September 2022. Their trials started in May.

Ms. Hamedi was arrested less than a week after Amini’s death when she went to the hospital where the young woman was being treated and posted a photo of the grieving family on social media.

Ms. Mohammadi was arrested after going to Amini’s hometown of Saqez, in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan, to cover her funeral which turned into a demonstration.

The verdicts against Ms. Hamedi and Ms. Mohammadi, who were tried separately, are subject to appeal, Mizan said. Their lawyer has yet to react to the rulings.

In August, Iranian media reported that authorities had questioned or arrested more than 90 journalists since the protests triggered by Amini’s death in different cities erupted across the country.

Elaheh’s sister, Elnaz, also a journalist, was arrested and kept in Evin prison for a week in February and given a three-year suspended sentence in September.

On the first day of her trial, Ms. Hamedi told the court she had worked “as a journalist within the framework of the law and had not committed any act against the security of Iran”, according to comments reported by her husband, Mohammad Hossein Ajorlou, on social media.

Their trials were held behind closed doors and criticised by their families and lawyers.

International organisations defending journalists, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), have also condemned the trials and demanded their release.

In August, the judiciary said their trials were not only linked to Amini’s death but also to their alleged cooperation with the United States, according to the NGO United for Iran based in California.

Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic ties after the 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the US-backed shah.

The lawyer for the two journalists, Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, was detained in early January for more than three weeks before being released on bail.

During the months-long Amini protests, several hundred people including security forces were killed and thousands were arrested over their participation in the demonstrations.

Seven men were also hanged over their links with the “riots”— the term Iranian officials use to describe the protests.

The latest court ruling follows the sentencing of Amini’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, last week to one year in prison for propaganda against the state and speaking with foreign and local media about the case.

In February, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei agreed to pardon or commute the sentences of a “significant number” of convicts, although Ms. Mohammadi and Ms. Hamedi were not among those released.

People take part in a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Berlin, Germany, on December 10, 2022.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, sparking worldwide protests against the country’s conservative Islamic theocracy, was awarded the European Union’s top human rights prize on Thursday.

The EU award, named for Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died in 1989.

Other finalists this year included Vilma Núñez de Escorcia and Roman Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez — two emblematic figures in the fight for the defense of human rights in Nicaragua — and a trio of women from Poland, El Salvador and the United States leading a fight for “free, safe and legal abortion.”

Amini died on Sept. 16, 2022, after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said that day will “live in infamy,” adding that her ”brutal murder” marked a turning point.

“It has triggered a women-led movement that is making history,” she said as she announced the awarding of the prize to Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran.

“The world has heard the chants of ‘Women, Life, Liberty.’ Three words that have become a rallying cry for all those standing up for equality, for dignity and for freedom in Iran,” Metsola said.

Women have played a leading role in the protests, with many publicly removing the compulsory Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab.

The 27-nation EU has imposed sanctions on Iranian officials and organizations — including ministers, military officers and Iran’s morality police — for human rights abuses over the protests.

“We stand with those who, even from prison, continue to keep women, life and freedom alive,” Metsola said. “By choosing them as laureates for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought 2023, this House remembers their struggle and continues to honor all those who have paid the ultimate price for liberty.ʺ

Amini died three days after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police. While authorities said she suffered a heart attack, Amini’s supporters said she was beaten by police and died as a result of her injuries.

Her death triggered protests that spread across the country and rapidly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s four-decade-old Islamic theocracy.

Authorities responded with a violent crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 others were detained, according to rights groups. The demonstrations largely died down early this year, but there are still widespread signs of discontent. For several months, women could be seen openly flaunting the headscarf rule in Tehran and other cities, prompting a renewed crackdown over the summer.

The award ceremony will take place on Dec. 13.

Last year’s prize was awarded to the people of Ukraine and their representatives for their resistance to Russia’s invasion and defiance during the ongoing war.

Sporadic protests continued in Iran on Sunday amid a widespread crackdown by security forces a year after a young Kurdish woman’s death in custody set off some of the worst political unrest in four decades.

The death on September 16 last year of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested by the morality police for allegedly flouting mandatory dress codes, triggered months of some of the biggest protests against the Islamic Republic’s Shi’ite clerical rule ever seen and drew international condemnation.

On Saturday, Mahsa’s father, Amjad Amini, was arrested briefly and warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter’s death, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said, and the family was not able to hold a planned vigil at her grave.

A social media video on Sunday showed protesters in the western city of Hamadan, clapping and shouting “Death to Islamic Republic”, while another video showed protesters running away after apparent shooting by security forces. Reuters could not immediately authenticate the videos.

Following the publication of the videos, the semi-official Tasnim agency carried a video appearing to show that the streets of Hamadan were calm.

Rights groups, including the activist HRANA news agency, reported that a number of people were arrested in the Kurdish cities of Saqez and Sanandaj. State media reported detentions of dozens of “terrorists” including an individual allegedly planning a suicide attack.

Meanwhile, authorities said unidentified gunmen in southern Iran on Saturday opened fire on the Basij paramilitary volunteer militia, which has played a prominent role in the crackdown, killing one and wounding three. It was not immediately clear if the incident was linked to the current unrest.

Iran’s intelligence minister warned that Iran may take unspecified action against overseas media which Tehran accuses of fomenting violent unrest in the country.

Iran International, a London-based television station critical of the Iranian government, in February said it was moving its live broadcasting studios to the United States following threats it faced in Britain.

“(Iran) International is a terrorist network, and we will take action wherever and whenever we recognise any terrorist act,” the semi-official news agency Fars quoted the minister, Esmail Khatib, as saying.

Mahsa Amini “Inspires A Movement”

In the demonstrations that followed Mahsa Amini’s death more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups said. Iran carried out seven executions linked to the unrest.

US President Joe Biden in a statement on Friday said Mahsa Amini “inspired a historic movement … that has impacted Iran and influenced people across the globe.” Hundreds of Mahsa Amini’s supporters rallied in front of the White House on Saturday.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry rejected as “double standards and lies” Western expressions of support for women’s rights in Iran.

In a report last month, Amnesty International said Iranian authorities “have been subjecting victims’ families to arbitrary arrest and detention, imposing cruel restrictions on peaceful gatherings at grave sites, and destroying victims’ gravestones”.

Many journalists, lawyers, activists, students, academics, artists, public figures and members of ethnic minorities accused of links with the protest wave, as well as relatives of protesters killed in the unrest, have been arrested, summoned, threatened or fired from jobs in the past few weeks, according to Iranian and Western human rights groups.

Iran blames the unrest on its Western foes and rejects criticism of its legal system, saying it is based on a lack of understanding by rights groups of its Islamic laws.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Women hold placards during a global protest in solidarity with Iranian women in New York on September 16, 2023, on the first anniversary of the death of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in custody. 
| Photo Credit: AFP

Gunmen opened fire on a group of paramilitary forces in southern Iran, killing one of them and wounding another three, state media reported Sunday.

Local media did not give a motive for Saturday’s attack, which occurred on the anniversary of the death while in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the outbreak of nationwide protests. It was unclear if the attack was linked to the anniversary.

The official IRNA news agency said the attack targeting members of the paramilitary Basij occurred late Saturday in the town of Nourabad, some 630 km (390 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.

In a separate incident, a man was shot and wounded by security forces near the city of Saqqez, in Iran’s western Kurdish region. IRNA said he was shot after entering an area under military restrictions, without elaborating on his condition. The Kurdish rights group Hengaw had earlier reported that he was in critical condition, while the semi-official Fars news agency said he was stable.

The anniversary saw a heavy deployment of Iranian security forces in Tehran as well as Kurdish areas, where rights groups said there was a general strike.

Amini, who was from the Kurdish region, died Sept 16, 2022, after being detained by Iran’s morality police in the capital, Tehran, apparently for violating the country’s strict dress code. Women are required to wear an Islamic headscarf, known as a hijab, in public.

The protests over her death spread to all areas of the country and featured calls to overthrow Iran’s four-decade-old Shiite theocracy. Authorities responded with a heavy crackdown in which more than 500 people were killed and over 22,000 detained, according to rights groups.

The protests largely died down early this year but there are still widespread signs of discontent with the country’s clerical rulers. For months after the protests women could be seen flaunting the hijab law, prompting authorities to launch a renewed campaign to enforce it over the summer.

Tehran, Iran:

Iranian security forces foiled an assassination attempt Saturday on the father of Mahsa Amini, the young woman whose death in custody one year ago sparked nationwide protests, state media reported.

The official IRNA news agency said the attempt on Amjad Amini’s life took place as he was on his way to visit his daughter’s grave at the Aichi cemetery in the western town of Saqez.

Saturday marked the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death.

“Security forces arrested several members of a terrorist group who wanted to assassinate Amjad Amini,” the official IRNA news agency said, citing the deputy governor of Kurdistan province, Mehdi Ramezani.

It did not identify those arrested or the “terrorist group” to which they allegedly belonged, saying only that the attempt on Amjad Amini’s life “was foiled”.

Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died in police custody on September 16 last year following her arrest for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.

Her death triggered months-long demonstrations which saw hundreds killed, including dozens of security personnel, in what Tehran labelled as “riots” fomented by foreign governments and “hostile media”.

Seven men have been executed after being convicted in protest-related cases of murder or other violence against security forces.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

People hold a placard with pictures of, as Iranian call them, martyrs, during a rally of Iranian diaspora in Europe, on the eve of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, which prompted protests across their country, in Brussels, Belgium on September 15, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Iranian security forces briefly detained the father of Mahsa Amini on September 16 and spread across mainly Kurdish areas of the country, a year after her death in police custody set off some of the biggest protests since the fall of the Shah in 1979.

State-affiliated media reported arrests of several “counter revolutionaries” and “terrorists” in different Iranian cities and said security forces had foiled plots to create disturbances around illegal demonstrations.

The death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested by the morality police last year for allegedly flouting mandatory dress codes, triggered months of some of the biggest protests against the Islamic Republic’s Shi’ite clerical rule ever seen and drew international condemnation.

Also Read | A year ago, an Iranian woman’s death sparked hijab protests

On Saturday, the first anniversary of her death, a massive security force presence was deployed in Iran’s mostly Kurdish areas on Saturday in anticipation of unrest, according to human rights groups.

But footage on social media showed apparent protests in areas including Gohardasht, a neighbourhood of the city of Karaj west of the capital Tehran, and in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

One video posted on social media showed a group of demonstrators in Gohardasht chanting “We are a great nation, and will take back Iran” while drivers honked their horns and shouted encouragement. Reuters could not immediately authenticate the video.

Also Read | Iran says Mahsa Amini died of illness rather than ‘blows’

Mahsa’s father, Amjad Amini, was warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter’s death before being released, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said. Iran’s official IRNA news agency denied that Amjad Amini was arrested, but it did not say if he was briefly detained or warned.

Earlier, social media and reports by rights groups spoke of security forces taking up positions around Amini’s home in Saqez, in western Iran.

In a statement on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden said: “Mahsa’s story did not end with her brutal death. She inspired a historic movement — Woman, Life, Freedom — that has impacted Iran and influenced people across the globe.”

Britain on Friday imposed sanctions on four Iranian officials and the U.S. said it was sanctioning more than two dozen individuals and entities connected to Iran’s “violent suppression” of protests.

According to social media posts, Amini’s parents had said in a statement earlier this week that, despite government warnings, they would hold a “traditional and religious anniversary ceremony” at their 22-year-old daughter’s grave in Saqez.

Widespread strikes were reported in multiple cities in Iran’s Kurdistan region.

Explained | Mahsa Amini and the widespread protests in Iran

However, IRNA said Amini’s hometown of Saqez was “completely quiet” and that calls for strike in Kurdish areas had failed due to “people’s vigilance and the presence of security and military forces”.

It quoted an official in the Kurdistan province as saying: “A number of agents affiliated with counter-revolutionary groups who had planned to create chaos and prepare media fodder were arrested in the early hours of this morning.”

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The father of Mahsa Amini was briefly detained on Saturday, human rights groups said, amid a heavy security force presence on the first anniversary of his daughter’s death in Iranian police custody that sparked months of anti-government protests.

Amjad Amini was warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter’s death before being released, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said. Iran’s official IRNA news agency denied that Amjad Amini was arrested, but it did not say if he was briefly detained or warned.

Earlier, social media and reports by rights groups spoke of security forces taking up positions around Amini’s home in Saqez, in western Iran.

The death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police last year for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic’s mandatory dress code triggered months of protests that represented the biggest show of opposition to the authorities in years.

Many called for an end to more than four decades of Shi’ite clerical rule.

According to social media posts, Amini’s parents had said in a statement earlier this week that, despite government warnings, they would hold a “traditional and religious anniversary ceremony” at their 22-year-old daughter’s grave in Saqez.

A massive security force presence was deployed in Iran’s mostly Kurdish areas on Saturday in anticipation of unrest, according to human rights groups.

Widespread strikes were also reported in multiple cities in Iran’s Kurdistan region.

However, IRNA said Amini’s hometown of Saqez was “completely quiet” and that calls for strike in Kurdish areas had failed due to “people’s vigilance and the presence of security and military forces”.

It quoted an official in the Kurdistan province as saying: “A number of agents affiliated with counter-revolutionary groups who had planned to create chaos and prepare media fodder were arrested in the early hours of this morning.”

In the protests that followed Amini’s death more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups said. Iran carried out seven executions linked to the unrest.

In a report last month, Amnesty International said Iranian authorities “have been subjecting victims’ families to arbitrary arrest and detention, imposing cruel restrictions on peaceful gatherings at grave sites, and destroying victims’ gravestones”.

Many journalists, lawyers, activists, students, academics, artists, public figures and members of ethnic minorities accused of links with the protest wave, as well as relatives of protesters killed in the unrest, have been arrested, summoned, threatened or fired from jobs in the past few weeks, according to Iranian and Western human rights groups.

Iran’s Etemad daily reported in August that the lawyer for Amini’s family also faced charges of “propaganda against the system”. If convicted, Saleh Nikbakht faces a jail sentence of between one and three years.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tehran:

Iran’s rulers have intensified a clampdown on dissent one year since the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini sparked protests that spiralled into some of the worst political turmoil since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

How protests erupted in Iran after Mahsa Amini’s death

Protests began soon after the September 16 death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, 22, who had been arrested by morality police three days earlier for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory Islamic dress code.

Amini, described as a shy person who minded her own business and stayed clear of politics, was detained as she stepped out of a train station in Tehran.

News of her death circulated on social media. Protests erupted at her funeral in her hometown Saqez and then spread across the country with demonstrators chanting “Woman, life, freedom” in a furious challenge to Iran’s clerical rulers.

While Amini’s family said she had been killed by blows to her head and limbs, the authorities said she had died due to existing medical problems, further fuelling anger over her death.

What protestors demanded

With women and young people often at the forefront, protesters targeted symbols of the Islamic Republic, burning pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanting “Death to the Dictator”.

Women, including schoolgirls, took off and burned headscarves, revolting against laws obliging women to cover their hair and wear loose-fitting clothes.

The protests were particularly intense in areas home to ethnic minorities that have long faced discrimination by the state, including Kurds in the northwest and Baluchis in the southeast.

Meanwhile, a growing number of women were disregarding the dress code. After a chess player and a climber competed without wearing headscarves other prominent women defied the authorities by violating the hijab law and voicing support for the protests.

Authorities have imposed travel bans and jail terms on several public figures from athletes to actresses.

How Iran quelled protests

Security forces restricted access to messaging apps and fiercely confronted the leaderless protesters using tear gas, clubs and, in some cases, live ammunition, even as the protests rumbled on into the new year. A paramilitary volunteer militia, the Basij, played a prominent part in the crackdown.

Rights groups said over 500 people – including 71 minors – were killed, hundreds wounded and thousands arrested. Iran carried out seven executions linked to the unrest.

Authorities have not given any official estimated death count, but said dozens of the security forces were killed in the “riots”.

What Changed In Iran after Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody

Buttressed by the Revolutionary Guards, the ruling elite appears to remain deeply entrenched in power despite its initial difficulties in subduing the protests.

Morality police largely vanished from the streets after Amini died in their custody. But as the protests fizzled they returned to streets and surveillance cameras were installed to identify and penalise unveiled women.

Authorities described the veil as “one of the principles of the Islamic Republic” and ordered both private and public sectors to deny services to any women who had discarded it, temporarily closing thousands of non-compliant businesses.

But with many Iranians saying the number of unveiled women continues to grow, the parliament is considering longer prison terms for anyone who flouts the dress code and harsher penalties for celebrities and businesses that violate the rules.

Outside Iran, Western countries imposed new sanctions on security forces and on dozens of Iranian officials over the protests, further straining already difficult ties.

How Iran leaders will shore up their position

Recent actions by security forces suggested Iran’s rulers intended to brook no flicker of dissent as the anniversary of Amini’s death approached.

Activists have accused authorities of a campaign to intimidate and instil fear, arresting, questioning, threatening or firing people connected to protests.

Journalists, lawyers, activists, students, academics, artists, public figures and family members of killed protesters, especially among ethnic minorities, have been targeted in recent weeks.

Iranian officials have blamed the unrest on foreign foes, notably the U.S. and Israel, raising the stakes for anybody facing arrest.

However, in cracking down they risk widening a rift between the clerical leadership and ordinary Iranians increasingly dismayed by an economy hammered by sanctions and mismanagement, a potential source of future unrest.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mahsa Amini’s death set off protests in dozens of cities across the country of 80 million people, with young women marching in the streets and publicly exposing and cutting off their hair

September 16, 2023 11:08 am | Updated 11:59 am IST – WASHINGTON

The Iranian semi-official ISNA news agency reported that the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian dismissed the sanctions as a joke. “The sanctions that the Americans are imposing against Iran these days are more like a joke; Sometimes we see that the names of some people who died a few years ago are mentioned in these lists,” Amirabdollahian said.

Tasnim, reporting on the sanctions, called them “repetitive actions [that] are not considered a new issue for the bodies that protect the country’s security.”

In addition, the State Department imposed visa restrictions on 13 Iranian officials and others for their involvement in killing or detaining peaceful protesters or censoring them via a country-wide internet shutdown in Iran.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. would designate 25 Iranian people, three state-backed media outlets, and an internet research firm in connection with the Iranian regime’s suppression of nationwide protests. Taken in coordination with the U.K., Canada, Australia, and other nations, this is the United States’ 13th round of sanctions designations in response to Iran’s crackdown on protests.

“We will continue to take appropriate action, alongside our international partners, to hold accountable those who suppress Iranians’ exercise of human rights,” Mr. Blinken said.

In Brussels, the European Union announced that it had slapped asset freezes and travel bans on four officials, including a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to mark the anniversary.

The 27-nation bloc also imposed asset freezes on four prisons and the Tasnim news agency. EU citizens are banned from providing funds or economic resources to the prisons and people listed.

“The European Union expresses its support for the fundamental aspiration of the people of Iran for a future where their universal human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected, protected, and fulfilled,” a statement said.

Iranian authorities said Amini had a heart attack. Her family has disputed that.

The U.S. has already sanctioned over 70 Iranian people and entities “responsible for supporting the regime’s oppression of its people,” Biden said.