Iran charges 1,000 over unrest in Tehran

Iran will hold public trials of about 1,000 people charged in Tehran over unrest, a semi-official news agency said on Monday, as authorities step up efforts to crush more than six weeks of protests ignited by Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody.

One of the boldest challenges to Iran’s clerical leaders since the 1979 revolution, the protests have continued despite increasingly severe warnings: the Revolutionary Guards on Saturday bluntly told protesters to stay off the streets.

Iranian leaders have described the protests as a plot by enemies of the Islamic Republic, including the United States and Israel. Protesters from all walks of life have taken part, with students and women playing a prominent part, waving and burning headscarves.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing the chief justice of Tehran province, said the trials of about 1,000 people “who have carried out acts of sabotage in recent events, including assaulting or martyring security guards, (and) setting fire to public property” would take place in a Revolutionary Court. The trials would take place in public this week, it said.

Iranian authorities have been waging a deadly crackdown to quell the unrest. The activist HRANA news agency said on Saturday 283 protesters had been killed in the unrest, including 44 minors. Some 34 members of the security forces were also killed.

Amini died in the custody of Iran’s morality police on Sept. 16 after being detained for “inappropriate attire”.