JAKARTA - Iran's riot police were deployed in Tehran's main square on Wednesday to confront people shouting 'death to the dictator', as national protests over the death of Iran's young woman Mahsa Amini in police custody added pressure to authorities.
Despite the increasing death toll and the crackdown by security forces using tear gas, batons and, in some cases, live ammunition, videos posted on social media show the Iranian people calling for an end to Islam's rule for more than four decades.
The protests have continued for nearly two weeks, spreading to at least 80 cities and cities around Iran, from Tehran to the southeastern port of Chabahar.
"We will fight, we will die, we will reclaim Iran," protesters shouted in Tehran's Ekbatan neighborhood, a video posted on Twitter showed.
A video from Chabahar showed riot police firing tear gas to disperse protesters, shouting "Depart (Ayatollah Ali's Supreme Leader) Khamenei".
Meanwhile, the Iranian police chief said his forces would crack down on the protesters who took to the streets, citing The National News.
Police Command said that "officers will strongly oppose counter-revolutionary conspiracy and enemy elements, and take firm action against those who disrupt public order and security anywhere in the country," according to Fars news agency.
State media said 41 people, including police officers and pro-government militias, were killed during protests. Meanwhile, Iranian human rights groups have reported higher casualties, reaching 76 people.
Separately, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the rulers of Iranian clerics to "fully respect the right to freedom of expression, expression, assembly and association peacefully".
In a statement from the United Nations human rights office on Tuesday, spokesman Ravina Shamdasani said reports indicated "a hundred people have been arrested, including human rights defenders, lawyers, civil society activists and at least 18 journalists".
Mahsa Amini (22), from the northwestern city of Kurr Saqez, was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for 'inappropriate use' by moral police, which enforces the strict dress code of the Islamic Republic.
He died three days later in hospital after falling into a coma, sparking the first major demonstration of opposition on Iranian roads since authorities destroyed protests against rising gasoline prices in 2019.
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