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Iran criticizes western stance on mass protests over woman’s death

The Iranian government has summoned ambassadors from the United Kingdom and Norway to challenge the interference and hostile media coverage of the protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman in the custody of the “morality police”.

According to the foreign ministry, the summons is a response to the “hostile character” of the London-based Persian-language media. The UK Foreign Office said it defended media freedom and condemned “Iran’s crackdown on protesters, journalists and internet freedom”.

Norway’s representative was summoned to explain the “interventionist stance” of the Norwegian parliament speaker, Masud Gharahkhani, who expressed support for protesters, journalists and internet freedom.

Gharahkhani, who was born in Tehran, continued to demonstrate on Sunday (25). “If my parents hadn’t chosen to run away in 1987, I would have been one of those who fought in the streets with my life on the line,” she said via Twitter.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-abdollahian also criticized US support for “troublemakers”, as the government has called many who have joined the protests, prompting a crackdown by security forces, as well as restrictions on the internet and websites. phones.

Amini’s death has reignited Iranian public discontent over issues such as restrictions on personal freedoms, strict dress codes for women and an economy reeling from sanctions.

The demonstrations that erupted in the country come after Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was killed while in prison after being detained for not wearing her hijab correctly.

Clashes continued between security forces and protesters in several regions of the northwest, according to sources in the cities of Tabriz, Urmia, Rasht and Hamedan. Activists said there were also protests in districts of the capital, Tehran.

In a statement published on Sunday (25), the main teachers union called on teachers and students to rehearse the first national strike since the beginning of the unrest, on Monday (26) and Wednesday (28).

The statement told teachers, unions, military veterans and artists to “stand with the students, students and people seeking justice in these difficult days.”

Details about the victims of the police crackdown slowly leaked out, in part because of restrictions on communication. The sister of a 20-year-old woman identified as Hadis Najafi told a US activist that her brother died on Wednesday after being shot by security forces.

Videos of Najafi were shared on Twitter, showing her without a hijab and protesting in Karaj, 30 kilometers northwest of Tehran.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Iran must “immediately stop the violent crackdown on protests and guarantee access to the internet”. He also asked for information on the number of people killed and arrested, and an investigation into “the murder of Mahsa Amini”.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the government guarantees freedom of expression and had ordered an investigation into Amini’s death.

According to him, “acts of chaos” are unacceptable and that Iran must deal decisively with the unrest. At the United Nations, he said extensive coverage of Amini’s case was “double standards”, pointing to deaths in US police custody.

The president also said the US was supporting the protesters and seeking to destabilize Iran, a position he said contradicted US calls for stability in the region and a nuclear deal with Tehran.

*Posted by Daniel Reis

Source: CNN Brasil

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