Iran steps up crackdown ahead of Amini anniversary: Activists

Iran is ratcheting up a crackdown ahead of the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, arresting prominent personalities, campaigners and relatives of those killed by security forces in protests last year, activists say.

The death in custody on September 16, 2022 of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women, sparked months of protests that included calls for an end to Iran's Islamic system.

The protests have now largely subsided, despite some sporadic outbursts, after a crackdown which saw thousands detained, according to the UN, and hundreds shot dead by security forces, according to activists.

But campaigners outside Iran say the authorities are acutely aware of the risk that the anniversary could spark more protests and say security forces have stepped up repression to prevent a repeat of the events of last autumn.

Those arrested this month have included the prominent singer Mehdi Yarrahi after he released a song urging women to remove their headscarves in defiance of the law.

Eleven women's rights activists were detained in Gilan province, one of the flashpoint areas for protests last year, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has said families of those killed in the crackdown on the movement have been subjected to "arbitrary arrest and detention" in a bid to enforce "silence and impunity" over the fate of their loved ones.

"These arrests are a blatant attempt by Iranian authorities to instil fear within the population ahead of the upcoming anniversary (and) to deter more protests," Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New-York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), told AFP.

In a report, Amnesty said families of victims killed in the crackdown across the country have been subjected to abusive interrogations, arbitrary arrest and detention and or unjust prosecution and sentencing in recent months.

"The cruelty of the Iranian authorities knows no bounds," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, accusing the Iranian authorities of a "sinister attempt to cover up their crimes".

In a new example, security forces on Sunday arrested three close family members, including the mother, of Hananeh Kia, a woman in her early 20s shot dead by security forces in September 2022 during the initial phase of the protests, HRANA and the Hengaw rights group said.

The CHRI said in just eight days this month, 21 family members of victims were either summoned to court or detained in Iran.

Roya Boroumand, executive director of the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, said "victims' family members have been targeted pretty systematically".

"They have been arrested, summoned repeatedly and interrogated, or their houses are raided," she said, adding pressure was being put on them not to post anything on social media, gather for commemorations or speak out.