From Parisa Hafezi
DUBAI, Oct 5 (Archyde.com) – The Islamic Republic has summoned the British ambassador for the second time since protests erupted across the country last month, Iranian media said on Wednesday, escalating accusations of Western meddling in the ongoing unrest sparked by the death of Mahasa Amini in a police detention centre. .
Iran has accused its opponents, including the United States, of orchestrating the unrest, which represents the biggest challenge to the country’s ruling clerical elite in years, during which protesters demanded the overthrow of the Islamic Republic’s regime.
The protests, which have taken place since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the morality police in Tehran on Sept. 13 for her “improper clothing”, drew wide participation from across Iran.
Videos circulated on social media on Wednesday showed girls from secondary schools in Tehran removing their headscarves and chanting “Death to (Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei.” Archyde.com could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
The authorities are taking drastic measures to quell the unrest, although observers do not believe it could lead to the overthrow of the ruling establishment dominated by Shiite clerics 43 years after the Islamic revolution.
Witnesses told Archyde.com that the authorities deployed riot police heavily in several cities on Wednesday, especially around universities, which are central sites for the protests.
“There are a lot of security forces around the University of Tehran,” said one student in Tehran. So much so that I was afraid to leave campus. Several police vehicles are waiting outside to arrest the students.”
Iranian media said the British ambassador was summoned again on Tuesday in response to “interfering comments” from the British Foreign Office.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted a senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official as saying that Britain’s “unilateral statements” show that it “has a role in the hostile scenarios of terrorists active against the Islamic Republic.” The agency did not go into details of the accusations.
*Cheers against the Basij
Amini’s killing and the suppression of protests have exacerbated tensions in Tehran’s already difficult relations with Western powers, exacerbating differences at a time when negotiations to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal have stalled.
The British Foreign Office announced on Monday that it had summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires in connection with the repressive response to the protests, which groups concerned with defending human rights said have seen the arrest of thousands, caused hundreds of injuries and resulted in more than 150 deaths.
The United States said it would impose an “additional price” on Iranian officials responsible for using violence against protesters.
The Basij, a volunteer militia of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, played a large role in the crackdown, along with the police. Authorities say a number of security forces have been killed.
Iran accuses Washington of seeking to exploit the turmoil to destabilize the country, and blames groups, including armed opposition groups, for the violence. Many Iranians, including celebrities, participated in or supported the protests.
In a video allegedly filmed at a school in Shiraz on Tuesday, about 50 female students surrounded a Basij who had been invited to give a speech, chanting “Get out of our faces, Basij” and “Death to Khamenei.”
Emphasizing the deeply held views of the Iranian government, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi accused the protesters of causing “horrific scenes” in the name of women’s rights. Defending the Islamic Republic’s conservative dress code, Vahidi said the protesters see “freedom in the nakedness and indecency of women.”
In France, prominent French actresses, including Juliette Binoche and Isabelle Huppert, cut locks of their hair in protest of Amini’s death, and a Swedish MP cut part of her hair at the end of her speech to the European Parliament.
Iran’s public prosecutor criticized the Amini family’s lawyer for making statements “without evidence”, after he was quoted as saying that “respected doctors” believed she had been physically abused in custody.
President Ibrahim Raisi issued an order to open an investigation into her death.