New wave of Iran protests expected as two IRGC members reportedly killed

State media says the soldiers were shot dead in the southern city of Zahedan

Iranians take part in protest against the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran in September 2022. AP

A new wave of protests is expected in Iran to mark 40 days since Mahsa Amini, 22, died after being beaten in custody by Iran’s “morality police” for contravening the country’s dress code.

University students in Tehran have been at the forefront of protests but in some cases, even schoolchildren have taken part while unions, including the body that represents teachers, have held strikes.

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  A protest for Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's 'morality police', in Tehran. AFP

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  Demonstrators disperse during the protest for Amini, who died in a hospital in the capital Tehran on Friday. AFP

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  The crowd chanted 'Death to the dictator', meaning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while some women took off their headscarves. AFP

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  A man pulls out a police motorcycle set on fire during the protest. Amini had been detained for violating the country's conservative dress code. AP

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  In recent months, rights activists have urged women to remove their veils in public, a gesture that would risk their arrest for defying a dress code as the country's rulers crack down on 'immoral behaviour'. AP

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  Iranians protest in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran's Kurdistan province, following the Amini's death while in custody. AFP

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  Iranian police officers clash with demonstrators in Tehran. Police said Amini fell into a coma as she waited with other detained women at a morality police station, rejecting allegations that she was probably beaten. AFP

Protests have intensified despite a vicious government crackdown that has left as many as 200 people dead, although estimates of the toll by rights groups vary.

Iran Human Rights, an activist group, said 141 people have been killed in the unrest.

Now demonstrators are set to mark the end of a traditional 40-day mourning period, despite saying that security forces had warned them against commemorating Amini’s death.

Events marking her death are expected in the Kurdish region of Iran, including in her home town of Saqqez, where a heavy security presence has been reported, and in the capital, where recent protests have been held at Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology and Shahid Beheshti University.

On Monday, students heckled President Ebrahim Raisi's spokesman Ali Jahromi as he addressed Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology, with the video published by reformist paper Hammihan.

The students chanted “spokesman, get lost!” and “we don't want a corrupt system, we don't want a murderer”.

The incident comes after pupils at Sadr High School in Tehran were attacked during a raid by security forces after they refused to hand over their phones to authorities, leading to further protests by their parents near the school.

At least eight members of the security forces have also been killed or wounded during the unrest and there are signs that violent resistance could be intensifying.

On Wednesday, state-linked media outlet Tasnim reported that two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a unit within Iran’s armed forces, were shot dead in Zahedan in the south-east — a further sign that the protest movement is merging with anti-government minority groups.

Zahedan, which is home to the marginalised Baloch minority, has had heavy security clampdowns. Iran Human Rights said 93 people were killed in demonstrations that erupted in the city on September 30 over the reported rape of a teenage girl by a police commander.

There has also been a campaign of mass arrests of protesters and their supporters, including academics, journalists and even pop stars.

State media said Tuesday that more than 210 people were charged in connection with the protests in Kurdistan, Qazvin and Isfahan.

State-linked IRNA said 105 people were charged over protests in Khuzestan, citing the local judicial authorities.