Iran's security forces out in force a year after Mahsa Amini's death

A year after Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody sparked some of the largest demonstrations since the fall of the Shah in 1979, Iranian security authorities temporarily detained her father on Saturday and dispersed over primarily Kurdish regions of the country.

Several “counter revolutionaries” and “terrorists” were reportedly detained by security authorities in various Iranian cities, according to state-affiliated media, and plans to cause commotion around unlawful gatherings were thwarted.

Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman, 22, was arrested by the morality police last year for allegedly disobeying dress codes. Her death in custody sparked months of some of the largest demonstrations against Shi’ite clerical rule ever seen in the Islamic Republic and drew international condemnation.

Human rights organisations claim that on Saturday, the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s passing, a sizable security presence was set up throughout Iran’s primarily Kurdish regions in preparation for protests.

The semi-official Fars news agency stated that a guy who “ignored a police warning” was gravely hurt by police in Saqez, Amini’s hometown in northwest Iran. It only stated that the individual had undergone surgery and was now in a critical care unit.

Social media videos appeared to show protests taking place in places like Mashhad, in the northeast, and Gohardasht, a district in the city of Karaj west of Tehran.

In one video shared on social media, protesters in Gohardasht were heard screaming, “We are a great nation, and we will take back Iran,” while passing motorists honked their horns and screamed support.

Before being freed, Mahsa’s father, Amjad Amini, received a warning from authorities not to observe the anniversary of his daughter’s passing, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network. Amjad Amini was neither imprisoned or issued a warning, according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, which also disputed that he had been arrested.

Amini’s residence in Saqez, western Iran, has been surrounded by security personnel, according to accounts from rights organisations and social media.

In a statement on Friday, US 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.”

Four Iranian officials were sanctioned by Britain on Friday, and the United States announced sanctions against more than two dozen people and organisations involved in Iran’s “violent suppression” of rallies.

Social media reports claim that Amini’s parents declared earlier this week that they would hold a “traditional and religious anniversary ceremony” at their 22-year-old daughter’s tomb in Saqez despite government warnings.

In the Kurdistan region of Iran, numerous cities reported widespread strikes.

Saqez, Amini’s hometown, was reportedly “completely quiet,” according to IRNA, and strikes in Kurdish regions had been resisted “by the people’s vigilance and the presence of security and military forces.”

A Kurdistan provincial official was cited as saying: “A number of agents connected to counter-revolutionary groups who had planned to create chaos and prepare media fodder were arrested in the early hours of this morning.”

More than 500 people were killed in the protests that erupted after Amini’s death, including 71 kids, hundreds were hurt, and thousands were detained, according to rights organisations. Seven executions related to the riots were carried out in Iran.

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

Iranian and Western human rights organisations report that numerous journalists, lawyers, activists, students, academics, artists, public figures, members of ethnic minorities accused of links to the protest wave, as well as relatives of protesters killed in the unrest, have been detained, summoned, threatened, or fired from jobs over the past few weeks.

In August, the Iranian newspaper Etemad stated that the family’s attorney was also accused of “propaganda against the system.” If found guilty, Saleh Nikbakht could spend one to three years in jail.

(With agency inputs)