Third week of protests begins in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini

The students they concentrated this Saturday in the universities of all Iranas the demonstrations sparked by the death of a woman in police custody entered their third week.

The protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iranian Kurdistan, have become the largest show of opposition to Iran's clerical authorities since 2019, with dozens killed in the riots in all the country.

Social media posts showed rallies at numerous universities on Saturdayincluding in the capital Tehran, with some students demanding the release of students detained in earlier protests.

The Twitter account @Tavsir1500 reported that dozens of Tehran University students were detained during Saturday's demonstration. The semi-official news agency Fars He reported that some protesters were arrested in a square near Tehran university.

Tavsir1500 also posted what he said was a video taken outside the University of Isfahan during which gunshots could be heard.

Reuters could not verify social media reports.

A government website had previously reported that most of the detained students had been releasedciting a spokesman for the Ministry of Education.

Amini was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for “inappropriate clothing” by the morality police, which enforces the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women.

The protests, which first broke out at his funeral on September 17, have spread to all 31 provinces of Iranwith the participation of all strata of society, including ethnic and religious minorities, and many call for the fall of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

According to Amnesty International, government repression of demonstrations has so far killed at least 52 people and injured hundreds. Rights groups say dozens of activists, students and artists have been arrested.

The authorities claim that many members of the security forces have been killedand accuse the United States of taking advantage of the unrest to try to destabilize the country.

State media have branded the protesters as rioters and seditious. (rts)