ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian university students on Tuesday continued protesting for the third day in a row in the Kurdish areas of western Iran (Rojhelat) chanting “Woman, Life, Freedom”, after weeks-long nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in police custody.
Students staged protests at several universities in the Kurdish cities of Marivan, Bukan, and Sanandaj on Tuesday in the backdrop of nationwide protests which began on September 16 after Amini’s death, resulting in the killing of over 130 people.
Videos posted on Twitter by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights show young women in their uniforms protesting at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in Sanadaj, refusing to attend classes and chanting “Women, Life, Freedom.”
According to the rights group, over 80 percent of teachers in Sanandaj and Saqqez have gone on strike and refused to attend classes.
Student protestors in Tabriz University chanting: "From Sanandaj to Tabriz, there is poverty, corruption, and discrimination."#MahsaAmini#مهسا_امینیpic.twitter.com/0szrlLv7xC
— Hengaw Organization for Human Rights (@Hengaw_English) October 4, 2022
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei broke his silence on Monday blaming the US and Israel for plotting the unrest to stop the progress of his regime instead.
Amini, 22, died in police custody three days after her arrest on September 13 by Iran’s controversial morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s dress code of wearing headscarves and modest clothes.
Her death united Iranians from all walks of life in an unprecedented way that has created a serious challenge to the regime in Tehran. Many Iranian celebrities and even officials have criticized the police for their actions but the protests have morphed into a real push for the overthrow of the regime.
About 133 people have died, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) said on Sunday, with hundreds of others wounded and dozens arrested.
Global rallies were held in solidarity with Amini’s death with people taking to the streets of dozens of cities, with many symbolically cutting off their hair.
By Klawdia Martani
