A year after Mahsa Amini’s death while in police custody sparked some of the largest demonstrations since the fall of the Shah in 1979, Iranian security authorities briefly 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, which also claimed that plans to cause commotion around unlawful gatherings had been 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 organizations claim that on Saturday, the first anniversary of her passing, a sizable security presence was set up throughout Iran’s predominately Kurdish regions in preparation for protests.
However, video posted on social media appeared to show protests in places like Mashhad, in the northeast, and Gohardasht, a neighborhood of Karaj, a city 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. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the video.
