Iran’s security forces briefly arrested Mahsa Amini’s father Amjad Amini on Saturday amid a tight security presence on the occasion of her first death anniversary, said human rights groups. However, Amjad was later released after being given a warning against holding any events to mark the death anniversary, according to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, reported news agency Reuters. The 22-year-old Kurdish woman died under the custody of Iranian police, which also sparked months of anti-government protests. But Iran’s official IRNA news agency denied the arrest of Amjad Amini.
Before the arrest, many social media reports highlighted the sudden presence of security forces around Amini’s home in Saqez, in western Iran.
Many special media posts that were widely circulating, also said Amini’s parents had said in a statement earlier this week that, despite government warnings, they would hold a “traditional and religious anniversary ceremony” at their 22-year-old daughter’s grave in Saqez, reported Reuters.
In the meantime, a massive security force was also deployed in many Kurdish regions of Iran on Saturday in view of any subsequent unrest and protests, said human rights groups. In many places and cities, widespread strikes were also reported in Iran’s Kurdistan region.
However, IRNA said Amini’s hometown of Saqez was “completely quiet”. It also stated that calls for strike in Kurdish areas had failed due to “people’s vigilance and the presence of security and military forces”.
IRNA also quoted an official from the Kurdistan province as saying: “A number of agents affiliated with counter-revolutionary groups who had planned to create chaos and prepare media fodder were arrested in the early hours of this morning.”
Widespread protests were triggered after the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police last year for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic’s mandatory dress code.
The entire protest was a display of opposition to the authorities. Several people had also called for the end of more than four decades of Shi’ite clerical rule. In all the protests associated with the death of Mahsa Amini, over 500 people were killed and 71 minors were arrested. Iran had also conducted several executions linked to the unrest.