Three dead in Iran protests over Amini’s death

TEHRAN: Three people have been killed during protests in Iran’s Kurdistan province over the death of a young woman after she was arrested by "morality police", the region’s governor said on Tuesday.

"The three were killed suspiciously" as part of "a plot by the enemy", the governor, Ismail Zarei Koosha, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency, without specifying when the fatalities occurred.

"One of the citizens of the city of Divandarreh was killed with a type of military weapon that none of the ranks of the armed forces use," he said, adding another person was killed in the city of Saghez and "left near a hospital in a car".

He did not give any details about the third death. Public anger has grown in Iran since authorities on Friday announced the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, following her arrest by the police unit responsible for enforcing the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.

On Sunday, police made arrests and fired tear gas in Amini’s home province of Kurdistan, where some 500 people had protested, some smashing car windows and torching rubbish bins, reports said.

On Monday, protesters in Tehran were dispersed by "police using batons and tear gas", according to Fars news agency. "Several hundred people chanted slogans against the authorities, some of them took off their hijab (headscarves)," Fars added.