A hard-line Iranian lawmaker Tuesday slammed female protesters who have taken off mandatory headscarves as prostitutes, doubling down on the government stance amid the dramatic demonstrations following the death of a 22-year-old woman detained by the country’s morality police. The harsh language by Mahmoud Nabavian, a legislator from Tehran, was in sharp contrast to the appeal by a top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamadani, who on Sunday urged the government to listen to the people’s demands. The fate of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who died in custody after being detained by the morality police — because her headscarf was allegedly too loose — has ignited unrest across Iran. Protests have have spread to at least 46 cities, including the capital of Tehran, towns and villages with scenes of violence and street clashes with security forces unseen for years in Iran. State TV reported that a police officer died Tuesday in a hospital after being injured by rioters in the town of Robatkarim in Tehran province. Solidarity protests have also erupted in Europe, the United States and in parts of the Middle East. In a predominantly Kurdish city in Syria, thousands of women took to the streets Monday, holding posters with Amini’s photo. Across Iran, ordinary women and public figures, including Iranian actresses, have removed their headscarves in protest or cut their hair in public to show solidarity with the demonstrators. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that security forces arrested reformist activist Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of Iran’s late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The Tuesday report said Hashemi, who has previously served time in prison for her comments and activism, was arrested for allegedly inciting rioters to street protests in the east of Tehran on Tuesday night. A lawyer for Hashemi could not be reached and it was unclear if she had legal representation. Iranian state TV has suggested that at least 41 protesters and police have been killed since demonstrations began Sept. 17. An Associated Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 14 dead, with more than 1,500 demonstrators arrested. The state-run IRNA news agency reported Tuesday that Hassan Bahramnia, governor of Ilam province in western Iran near the border with Iraq, said security forces have arrested 180 protesters since the unrest began. He said some have been released. “These rioters are out to prostitute themselves,” the lawmaker, Mahmoud Nabavian, was quoted as saying by Fararu, a news website. He suggested that taking off the hijab, or headscarf, was akin to being naked in public to attract male attention. Nabavian blamed both women and men taking part in the protests, saying they were guilty of “impurities” that need to be washed away. Hamadani’s tone was starkly different. “It is necessary for officials to listen to people’s demands and solve their problems and be sensitive to their rights,” said the senior cleric, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking to reporters Tuesday in Washington, said Iran’s government took Mahsa’s life “because of decisions she should be making about what she would wear or not wear.” “Women in Iran have the right to wear what they want,” he said. “They have the right to be free from violence.” Amnesty International in a statement said urgent international action was needed […]

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