Protests continue in Iran despite warning from authorities

Street protests calling for improved women's rights and an end to theocratic rule have rocked country since September 16

In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows students of the Sharif University of Technology attend a protest sparked by the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country's morality police, in Tehran, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. (AP Photo)Show less

Protests in Iran continued on Saturday evening despite a warning from the country’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a wing of the armed forces, which said that the “patience” of security forces had run out.

Videos uploaded to social media showed large crowds gathered at Tehran University and government-linked militias trying to disburse them with teargas.

Iran has been rocked by protests since September 16, when Mahsa Amini, 22, died in hospital after being beaten in custody. She had been detained by the country’s so-called morality police for violating the government-imposed dress code.

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  Iranians protest in Tehran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police in September. AP Photo

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  Protests have intensified despite a vicious government crackdown that has left as many as 200 people dead, although estimates of the toll by rights groups vary. AP Photo

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  At least eight members of the security forces have also been killed or wounded during the unrest and there are signs that violent resistance could be intensifying. AP Photo

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  A fire burns at the office of the governor of Mahabad, in the West Azerbaijan province of Iran. AFP

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  Protesters gather in the a courtyard of Chitgar complex in western Tehran. AFP

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  Iranian protesters continue to defy a deadly crackdown by security forces. AFP

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  A woman cuts her hair at the grave site of Nika Shahkarami in the city of Khorramabad, during a reported memorial held to mark 40 days since the death of the 16-year-old. AFP

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  A woman not wearing a headscarf stands on top of a vehicle as thousands make their way towards Saqez, Mahsa Amini's home town, to mark 40 days since her death in police custody. AFP

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  Iranian riot police prepare to confront protesters the capital, Tehran. AFP

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  Iranian protesters surge forward amid clashes with riot police in Tehran. AFP

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  A crowd blocks an intersection during a protest to mark 40 days since Amini's death in custody. AP Photo

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  Iranian police arrive to disperse a protest in Tehran. AP Photo

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  Protesters chant at a vigil for Amini at the Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology in Tehran. Reuters

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  Students at Sharif University of Technology attend a protest. AP Photo

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  Police outside Sharif University during a student protest. AP Photo

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  Students at the university protest over the death of Amini, who was in 'morality police' custody for allegedly breaking strict rules on head coverings for women. AP Photo

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  The students' banner says: 'No to mandatory hijab'. AP Photo

Street protests, which have also energised the country’s marginalised Kurdish and Baloch minorities as well as secular students and unions, have been accompanied by strikes. Teachers and oil sector workers have joined industrial action, protesting against the government response to the demonstrations.

The IRGC is linked to an internal militia force known as the Basij, which is tasked with maintaining security on the streets.

Government security forces have been accused of widespread abuses in an continuing crackdown and while estimates of the death toll vary, rights groups say at least 200 people, including over 20 children, have been killed.

“So far, Basijis have shown restraint and they have been patient,” the head of the IRGC in the Khorasan Junubi province, Brigadier General Mohammadreza Mahdavi, was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. “But it will get out of our control if the situation continues.”

On Saturday, the commander of the IRGC, Hossein Salami, told protesters that Saturday would be their last day of taking to the streets.

Meanwhile, more than 300 Iranian journalists demanded the release of two colleagues jailed for their coverage of Amini in a statement published by the Iranian Etemad and other newspapers on Sunday.

Niloofar Hamedi took a photo of Amini's parents hugging each other in a Tehran hospital where their daughter was lying in a coma.

The image, which Ms Hamedi posted on Twitter, was the first signal to the world that all was not well with Amini, who had been detained three days earlier for what the morality police deemed inappropriate dress.

Elaheh Mohammadi covered Amini's funeral in her Kurdish home town Saqez, where the protests began. A joint statement released by Iran’s intelligence ministry and the intelligence organisation of the Revolutionary Guards on Friday had accused Ms Hamedi and Ms Mohammadi of being CIA foreign agents.

The arrests match an official narrative that Iran's archenemy the United States, Israel and other western powers and their local agents are behind the unrest and are determined to destabilise the country.

At least 40 journalists have been detained in the past six weeks, according to rights groups, and the number is growing.