Iran president says ‘chaos’ will not be accepted as protests continue
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 30, 2022
- . Update: September 30, 2022 8:26 pm
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, has warned that he will not accept “chaos” as protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, wreaked havoc in the country.
Raisi said that Amini’s death two weeks ago had “saddened all,” but he said that his government “could not allow people to disturb the peace of society through riots.” The president reportedly said, “Those who took part in the riots must be dealt with decisively, this is the demand of the people. No one is allowed to break the law and cause chaos.”
Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died on September 16, three days after she had been arrested for allegedly wearing a loose Hijab. The Iranian morality police reportedly arrested her for breaching Iran’s strict rules for women on wearing hijabs and modest clothing.
In Iran’s biggest demonstrations in almost three years, people have taken to the streets, demanding justice for Amini. The protesters chanted, “Woman, Life, Freedom!” Iranian women have defiantly burned their hijabs and cut off their hair.
Read : Iran arrests ex-president Rafsanjani’s daughter for ‘inciting protests’
Amini’s parents have filed a complaint, demanding “a thorough investigation” of the whole matter. According to lawyer Saleh Nikbakht, Amini’s family released “all videos and photographs” of her while in police custody.
An Iraq-based cousin of Amini, who is also a member of a Kurdish nationalist group, claimed that Amini died after a “violent blow to the head.” The cousin said that Amini’s brother and her female relatives went out to Tehran on September 13. He said that on leaving the Haghani underground station, “the morality police stopped them, arresting Amini and her relatives for allegedly breaching Iran’s law.”
After her death, #MahsaAmini became one of the top hashtags on Twitter. People started demanding justice for Amini on Twitter. Images and videos posted on social media showed morality police taking Amini forcefully into a van.
