Iran hints at deeper crackdown amid protests over woman’s death

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s army on Friday hinted that it was prepared to deepen its crackdown on protests triggered by the death of a young woman who had been detained by the morality police.

For almost a week, there have been running battles between demonstrators and security forces in almost 90 cities and towns. At least 26 people have died during the demonstrations, according to Iranian state television.

The military said it would “confront the enemies’ various plots in order to ensure security and peace for the people who are being unjustly assaulted,” government-aligned Tasnim News Agency reported, according to Reuters.

Protesters can be heard chanting various slogans in videos posted on social media. In one video uploaded on Twitter, a group of demonstrators in the city of Pakdasht shout, “Death to the dictator.” Another video shows demonstrators chanting, “Women, life, freedom,” and, “I will kill, I will, whoever killed my sister.”

Anger over the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, presents the government with its worst crisis in decades, according to Roham Alvandi, an associate professor of international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“These protests have rocked the very foundations of the Islamic Republic,” he said.

“The message that a younger generation of Iranians is sending to their rulers and to the world is that the Islamic Republic is illegitimate in their eyes and they demand a secular democratic state that doesn’t interfere in their private lives,” he said. 

The government has responded to demonstrations by blocking access to the internet and to the messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram — a tactic it has used in the past, such as during protests in November 2019. Amnesty International said at least 300 people were killed during the crackdown that followed that unrest.

Some have warned the crackdown on the ongoing demonstrations will likely intensify.

“I think they will impose a harsh crackdown once [President Ebrahim] Raisi is back from New York,” said Ali Ansari, a professor of modern Middle Eastern history at the University of St. Andrews, referring to the Iranian leader’s trip this week to the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Iranian authorities, however, said Amini died…