Iran protests after death of Mahsa Amini - in pictures

Dozens have been killed in violent clashes with Iran’s security forces

Protesters gather near a burning motorcycle as they take to the streets in anger over the death of Amini
Protesters gather near a burning motorcycle as they take to the streets in anger over the death of Amini
(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Iran has been rocked by ten consecutive days of violent protests following the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini in police custody.

Protests have been held in numerous towns and cities across Iran since 17 September, when Amini’s funeral took place in her hometown of Saqez near the border with Iraq.

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Amini died on 16 September three days after being detained by the so-called morality police for allegedly breaking the country’s obligatory dress code laws. Iranian police have denied any mistreatment and claimed she died of “sudden heart failure”.

Protests in Tehran

On the fifth night of protests in Tehran, police used tear gas to disperse crowds, said state media
(Image credit: AFP via Getty Image)

Since Amini’s funeral, widespread violent unrest has spread to “most of Iran’s 31 provinces and almost all urban centres”, with the protests “posing the most serious test to the hardline state’s authority in more than 13 years”, said The Observer.

Pro-government protesters burned flags of the US, Israel and Britain during a rally against the recent anti-government protests in Tehran and across the country.

Government supporters burn US, Israeli and British flags in counter-protests in Tehran
(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi said authorities must “deal decisively” with “those who oppose the country’s security and tranquillity”, according to reports from Iranian state media.

As pro-government rallies were held on Sunday, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei echoed the president’s warning in comments made to the judiciary’s official website Mizan Online. Mohseni-Ejei “emphasized the need for decisive action without leniency” against the instigators of what he described as “riots”, said the site.

A woman cuts her hairs as a sign of protest in Belgium

A woman cuts her hair in a protest outside the Iranian embassy in Brussels
(Image credit: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)

Women have been central to the protests sweeping Iran. Many have been “waving and burning their veils” while others have “publicly cut their hair as furious crowds called for the downfall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei”, said Reuters.

A woman cuts her hair during a demonstration in Sergels Torg, Stockholm in support of the protests in Iran

A woman cuts her hair during a demonstration in Stockholm in support of the protests in Iran
(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Across the world, at rallies in support of Iranian women, demonstrators have also been seen cutting their hair.

A protester in London's Trafalgar Square waves a flag aloft saying 'Freedom For Iran'.

A protester in London’s Trafalgar Square waves a flag aloft saying ‘Freedom For Iran’
(Image credit: Martin Pope/Getty Images)

In London, 12 people were arrested and five police officers were injured during a protest outside Iran’s embassy on Sunday. Crowds chanted “Death to the Islamic republic” and waved Iran’s national flag from before 1979, said The Guardian. Some demonstrators “threw missiles at officers and breached police lines”, said the BBC.

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