Iran detains mother of teen in coma after metro incident

PARIS: Iran has detained the mother of a 16-year-old who was left in a coma after an alleged assault on the Tehran metro by morality police, a rights group said on Thursday.

Sunday´s alleged assault, which came just over a year after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for an alleged violation of Iran´s strict dress code for women, has drawn expressions of concern from several Western governments.

But state media in Iran have strongly denied that Armita Garawand was hurt as a result of a clash with female police officers, saying she fainted due to blood pressure problems. Kurdish-focused rights group Hengaw has insisted that Garawand was seriously wounded and left in a coma in a confrontation with police, who had apprehended her for not wearing an obligatory headscarf.

It has said she is being treated under high security in the Fajr hospital in Tehran, with her parents not allowed a proper visit with her. Her mother Shahin Ahmadi was arrested near the hospital and taken to an unknown location by security agents, Hengaw said. Iran International TV said the arrest came after she protested the restrictions placed on hospital visits.