In one of the deadliest clashes between police and protesters since Iran’s anti-government demonstrations began, nineteen people were killed on Friday. This was in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly disobeying Iran’s strict dress codes for women by donning an “improper hijab.”
Iranian protesters and police had a violent confrontation in southeastern Iran. The confrontation happened as worshippers from Iran’s Sunni minority left Friday prayers at the Makki Grand Mosque in Zahedan, capital of Sistan and Balochistan province, reported Voice of America (VOA).
“Nineteen people were killed and 20 injured in the incident,” regional governor Hossein Khiabani told the state broadcaster.
“Provincial intelligence officer of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Colonel Ali Mousavi was also killed,” state television added.
Iranian state media earlier on Friday stated that security personnel had retaliated after armed men attacked a police station in the provincial capital of Zahedan.
The protesters were labeled as terrorists and separatists by the Iranian state media, who also charged them with shooting guns at police.