Students demonstrated Tuesday (October 25th) in several universities across Iran, where tensions remain high on the eve of ceremonies expected for the 40th day following the death of the young Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, which traditionally marks the end of mourning in this country.

"Students are ready to die but not to live in humiliation," chanted protesters at Shahid Chamran University in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, according to video released online and verified by the AFP.

Young women and schoolgirls, many bareheaded, have been at the forefront of the protest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16.

This 22-year-old Iranian woman died three days after her arrest in Tehran by the morality police who accused her of having violated the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic, imposing in particular the wearing of the veil for women.

The repression of the protests has left at least 141 people dead, including children, according to a new report revealed on Tuesday by Iran Human Rights (IHR), an NGO based in Oslo.

In addition, the city of Zahedan, in the province of Sistan-Baluchistan (south-east), one of the poorest in Iran, was affected by several days of violence sparked on September 30 during demonstrations against the rape of a young girl charged with a policeman, who caused at least 93 deaths according to the IHR.

On Tuesday, two members of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological army, were shot and killed by unidentified people in Zahedan, according to the Tasnim news agency.

These deaths bring to eight the number of members of the security forces killed in Sistan and Balochistan.

Threat

New demonstrations took place Tuesday in several Iranian cities, to denounce the repression exerted by the security forces, accused of having beaten the schoolgirls the day before.

Images shared on social media showed students protesting in Tehran, including at Beheshti University and Khaje Nasir Toosi University of Technology.

In images published Tuesday by the NGO Hengaw, police patrols were deployed on streets leading to Saqqez in Kurdistan.

According to the same source, two figures of Iranian football, legendary striker Ali Daei and goalkeeper Hamed Lak, are currently in the city, "wishing to be present on the 40th day of mourning" after the death of Mahsa Amini.

This day will take place on Wednesday, and will mark the end of the traditional mourning period in Iran.

According to activists, the security forces warned the young woman's parents against organizing any commemoration ceremony, in particular at her grave in Kurdistan, her home province, going so far as to threaten "the life of their son".

The official Irna news agency released a statement on Tuesday evening quoting Mahsa Amini's family and saying: "Given the circumstances and in order to avoid any unfortunate issues, there will be no ceremony marking the 40th day (after death) of our beloved."

A statement made under pressure, according to human rights activists who expect tributes at the grave of the young woman on Wednesday.

Students "beaten"

On Monday, videos circulating online showed security forces violently suppressing a gathering of Iranian girls outside a girls' school in Tehran.

"Students at the Shahid Sadr school in Tehran were attacked, searched and beaten," online media 1500tasvir reported.

At least one 16-year-old student, Sana Soleimani, was hospitalized, according to this media, which lists human rights violations attributed to the security forces.

"Parents demonstrated later in front of the school. Security forces attacked the neighborhood and fired on the houses of local residents," 1500tasvir added.

According to the Ministry of Education, a dispute arose between the schoolgirls, their parents and school staff, after the principal ordered them to hand over their mobile phones for control.

"We strongly deny the death of a student in this clash," said a ministry spokesman, quoted by the Isna news agency.

Charges

On Monday evening, demonstrators took to the streets of the Salsabil district where these incidents took place, burning trash cans, according to videos that AFP failed to authenticate.

"Death to the dictator", "Death to the Revolutionary Guards", shouted women who demonstrated in Tehran metro stations, according to videos shared on Twitter.

Also in the capital, students booed government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi as he delivered a speech at Khaje Nasir University, in a video released by the reform-minded outlet Hammihan.

The Judicial Authority has counted more than 300 demonstrators charged in Tehran since the start of the protest and four have been charged with an offense punishable by death.

State media also announced on Tuesday that more than 210 other protesters were indicted in Kurdistan (west), Qazvin and Isfahan (center), accused of "breaching security", "propaganda" and "aggression against the forces of order".

And 105 people have been charged in Khuzestan province, in southwestern Iran, according to the Irna agency, citing the local judicial authority.

With AFP

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