Regime pushes back at protests’ ‘evil strategy’

Iran’s military has warned antigovernment protesters against continued unrest, vowing to confront ‘‘plots’’ by enemy forces as demonstrators, angry over the recent death of a woman in police custody, clash with security forces across the country.

‘‘These desperate actions are part of the evil strategy of the enemy to weaken the Islamic regime,’’ the army said yesterday, Reuters reported. It said the military would ‘‘confront the enemies’ various plots in order to ensure security and peace for the people who are being unjustly assaulted’’.

Demonstrators at several state-organised rallies yesterday called for the perpetrators of alleged violence against security forces to be executed.

State television reported that 35 protesters and policemen had been killed since the demonstrations began a week ago, the Associated Press reported.

The unrest was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-yearold Kurdish woman who was detained by Iran’s ‘‘morality police’’ while visiting the capital, Tehran, for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code for women.

As the protests have spread, Amini has become a symbol for many Iranians grappling with poverty, unemployment, political repression, and everyday indignities in a country ruled by conservative Shia Muslim clerics.

Iran’s government has restricted internet and cellular services, and has blocked WhatsApp and Instagram. But images and footage of extraordinary scenes – such as women defiantly removing their veils, burning headscarves and cutting off their hair – have emerged on social media.

Other videos show men and women protesting together, chanting ‘‘Bread, work and freedom!’’. Some have burned images of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while shouting ‘‘Death to the dictator!’’.

‘‘What especially stands out is how it’s women and youth-led, specifically by Iranian Generation Z,’’ said Holly Dagres, an Iran analyst and a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council think tank. ‘‘They have the same needs and wants of youth everywhere.’’

‘‘The escalating crackdown requires a coordinated international response in terms of both pressuring Iran to refrain from using excessive force and exploring avenues for accountability,’’ said Tara Sepehri Far, an Iran researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Rights groups say they have documented hundreds of arrests and injuries during the protests, as well as incidents of authorities abusing women detainees. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said at least 11 Iranian journalists had been arrested, including one of the first to report on Amini’s hospitalisation.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said at the United Nations in New York this week that Amini’s death must be ‘‘steadfastly’’ investigated. On the sidelines of the opening of the UN General Assembly, Raisi said he had contacted Amini’s family.

‘‘Only a credible investigation’’ by the government could ease tensions, Far said. However, ‘‘based on the long track record of not being transparent, not investigating abuses’’, there was little hope among Iranians for government accountability, she said.