Iran's nationwide protests pile pressure on state

Iranian riot police deployed in Tehran's main squares on Wednesday to confront people chanting "death to the dictator" as nationwide protests over the death of young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in police custody piled pressure on authorities.

Amini, 22, from the northwestern Kurdish city of Saqez, was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for "unsuitable attire" by the morality police who enforce the Islamic Republic's strict dress code.

She died three days later in hospital after falling into a coma, sparking the first big show of opposition on Iran's streets since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.

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Despite a growing death toll and a crackdown by security forces using tear gas, clubs and, in some cases, live ammunition, videos posted on social media showed Iranians calling for the fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Officials said 41 people, including members of the police and a pro-government militia, had died during the protests. Iranian human rights groups have reported a higher toll.

Iran's state news agency reported meanwhile that the country's Revolutionary Guards launched missile and drone attacks on "terrorists" in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

A senior member of Komala, an Iranian Kurdish opposition party, told Reuters several of their offices were struck on Wednesday morning and there had been casualties and material damage, but he did not have details.

Iran has blamed armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents for involvement in unrest in the country, particularly in the northwest where most of Iran's up to 10 million Kurds live.

Videos on Twitter showed protests in several Iranian cities such as Chabahar, Sanandaj and Rasht. Videos posted on activist Twitter account 1500tasvir, with 145,000 followers, showed protesters gathering at Shiraz Medical School.

Early Wednesday, a video showed protesters in Tehran chanting "Mullahs get lost!" "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to the leader because of all these years of crime!". Reuters could not verify the authenticity of videos on social media.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U N High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Iran's clerical rulers to "fully respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association".

In a statement, spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that reports indicated "hundreds have also been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists and at least 18 journalists".

Amini's death has drawn widespread international condemnation while Iran has blamed "thugs" linked to "foreign enemies" for the unrest. Tehran has accused the United States and some European countries of using the unrest to try to destabilise the Islamic Republic.