Iran's Security Forces Open Fire As Thousands Gather To Mourn Mahsa Amini At Her Grave: Report

More than five weeks after Amini's death, the protests in Iran show no signs of ending. Mourners poured into Saqez to pay tribute to Amini at her grave at the end of the traditional mourning period.

New Delhi: Iranian security forces opened fire on thousands of protestors who massed on Wednesday in Mahsa Amini's hometown to mark 40 days since her death, news agency AFP reported citing a rights group and verified videos.

Mahsa Amini died on September 16, three days after her arrest in Tehran by the notorious morality police for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women. The death of the 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin sparked nationwide protests and a crackdown, which further garnered international attention with demonstrations staged in different parts of the world.

In the biggest unrest in the Islamic republic for years, the protests in Iran have young women leading the movement by burning their headscarves and confronting security forces.

More than five weeks after Amini's death, the protests in Iran show no signs of ending.

According to AFP, mourners poured into Saqez in the western Kurdistan province to pay tribute to Amini at her grave at the end of the traditional mourning period. The gathering happened despite heightened security measures.

A viral picture from the spot, verified by AFP, showed a young woman standing on the roof of a car without a hijab head covering, looking into the distance at the highway packed with scores of vehicles and mourners.

"Death to the dictator," protestors sloganeered at the Aichi cemetery outside Saqez, as per AFP's report. Following this, many were reportedly seen heading to the governor's office in the city centre where, according to Iranian media outlets, some were poised to attack an army base.

"Security forces have shot tear gas and opened fire on people in Zindan square, Saqez city," Hengaw, a Norway-based group which monitors rights violations in Iran's Kurdish regions, said without mentioning if people were wounded.

Iran's ISNA news agency reported that the internet services had been cut in Saqez for "security reasons", and that nearly 10,000 people had gathered in the city. It said that some people from the protesting crowd returning from the cemetery had "intended to attack an army base" until they were dispersed by other participants.

The AFP report mentioned a verified video that showed a torched police checkpoint while fires burned along a bridge in the Qavakh neighbourhood of Saqez.

Referring to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a group of protestors sloganeered, "This year is the year of blood, Seyed Ali will be toppled", a video verified by AFP showed.

Hengaw, the Norway-based rights group said that Iranian football stars Ali Daei and Hamed Lak travelled to Saqez "to take part in the 40th day" service.

They had been staying at the Kurd Hotel but were "taken to the government guesthouse... under guard by the security forces", it stated, as quoted by AFP.

Meanwhile, Kurdistan governor Esmail Zarei-Kousha accused Iran's enimies of being behind the unrest.

"The enemy and its media... are trying to use the 40-day anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death as a pretext to cause new tensions but fortunately the situation in the province is completely stable," he said, as quoted by state news agency IRNA.

According to Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights, the security forces' crackdown on the Amini protests have claimed the lives of at least 141 demonstrators, an updated death toll on Tuesday showed.

Amnesty International stated that the "unrelenting brutal crackdown" has killed at least 23 children, while IHR said at least 29 children died.

Notably, the United States on Wednesday put more than a dozen Iranian officials on its sanctions blacklist for the crackdown. Germany has condemned Tehran for earlier sanctioning European media outlets.