TEHRAN — Protests continued in several cities across Iran on Thursday against the death of a young woman in police custody, state and social media reported, as a human rights group said at least 83 people had been killed in nearly two weeks of demonstrations.

Mahsa Amini, 22, from the Iranian Kurdish town of Saqez, was arrested this month in Tehran for “unsuitable attire” by the morality police that enforces the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

Her death has sparked the first big show of opposition on Iran’s streets since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.

“At least 83 people, including children, are confirmed to have been killed in (the) #IranProtests,” Iran Human Rights, a Norway-based group, said on Twitter.

Despite the growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by authorities, videos posted on Twitter showed demonstrators calling for the fall of the clerical establishment in Tehran, Qom, Rasht, Sanandaj, Masjed-i-Suleiman and other cities.

State television said police had arrested a large number of “rioters”, without giving figures.

Rights groups said dozens of activists, students and artists have been detained and the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Twitter that it had learned that security forces had arrested at least 28 journalists as of Sept. 29.

President Ebrahim Raisi said the unrest was the latest move by hostile Western powers against Iran since its Islamic revolution in 1979.

“The enemies have committed computational errors in the face of Islamic Iran for 43 years, imagining that Iran is a weak country that can be dominated,” Raisi said on state television.

Raisi said on Wednesday that the death of the young woman in custody had “saddened” everyone in the Islamic Republic, but warned that “chaos” would not be accepted amid spreading violent protests over Mahsa Amini’s death.

Iranian riot police and security forces clashed with demonstrators in dozens of cities throughout the week.

A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic Republic’s “morality police”, in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 19. Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Amini died three days after her arrest in hospital after falling into a coma, sparking the first big show of opposition on Iran’s streets since authorities crushed protests against a rise in gasoline prices in 2019.

Raisi, who had ordered an investigation into Amini’s death, said “forensics will present report on her death in the coming days.”

Despite a growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by security forces using teargas, clubs and, in some cases, live ammunition, videos posted on social media showed protesters calling for the fall of the clerical establishment while clashing with security forces in Tehran, Tabriz, Karaj, Qom, Yazd and many other Iranian cities.

State media branded the protesters “hypocrites, rioters, thugs and seditionists”, while state television said police clashed with “rioters” in some cities and fired tear gas to disperse them.

Videos posted on social media from inside Iran showed protesters chanting, “Woman, Life, Liberty”, while women waved and burnt their veils and cut off their hair.

Videos on Twitter showed protesters chanting “Death to the dictator”, a reference to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj and Sardasht, riot police fired at protesters, Twitter videos showed.

“I will kill those who killed my sister,” chanted protesters in one of the videos from Tehran, while activist Twitter account 1500tasvir said, “The streets have become battlefields.”

Further videos on social media showed protests continuing in dozens of cities after nightfall on Tuesday. “Continuing shootings can be heard in Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan (province),” 1500tasvir said on Twitter.

More than 300 Iranian Christians issued a statement supporting the nationwide protests.

To make it difficult for protesters to post videos on social media, authorities have restricted Internet access in several provinces, according to Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks on Twitter and sources in Iran.

An Iranian newspaper displays the image of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died after being in a coma after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police for “unsuitable attire.” Photo: Reuters

Growing support

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights called on Iran’s clerical rulers to “fully respect the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly and association.”

In a statement, Ravina Shamdasani said that reports indicated “hundreds have also been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists and at least 18 journalists.”

“Thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country over the past 11 days. Security forces have responded at times with live ammunition,” the statement read.

Officials said 41 people, including members of the police and a pro-government militia, had died during the protests. But Iranian human rights groups have reported a higher toll.

The Iranian human rights group Hengaw said 18 people had been killed, 898 injured and more than 1,000 Kurdish protesters arrested in the last 10 days, but estimated that the real figures were higher.

“Between Monday and Friday, more than 70 women have been arrested in Iran’s Kurdistan… At least four of them are under age 18,” Hengaw said on Tuesday.

Women burn headscarves during a protest over the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in Iran, in the Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Sept. 26. Photo: Orhan Qereman/Reuters

Iran’s judiciary has set up special courts to try “rioters”, according to state media.

Social media posts, along with some activists, have called for a nationwide strike. Several university teachers, celebrities and prominent soccer players have supported the protests over Amini’s death, according to statements published by them on social media.

Students in several universities have refused to participate in classes. They staged protests against the widespread arrest of students and forceful encounters with security forces in universities.

The videos and statements on social media could not be verified by Reuters.

Amini’s death has drawn widespread international condemnation while Iran has blamed “thugs” linked to “foreign enemies” for the unrest. Tehran has accused the U.S. and some European countries of using the unrest to try to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

— Reuters and staff. Edited for style.