Some reputable Iranian news outlets reported that Colonel Ahmed Mirzaei, the head of Greater Tehran’s moral security police, had been suspended from his role following Mahsa Amini’s death. Tehran police denied that he had been suspended or fired. A CT scan of Amini’s head showed a broken bone, bleeding and swelling of the brain, seemingly confirming that she died from a blow to the head. The results of the scan, if confirmed, are a huge setback not only for the morality police, but also for the wider Tehran police force, which released edited videos of her arrest and detention in a police station designed to show that she died due to heart disease or epilepsy. . Her father always denied having such a condition, effectively accusing the police of a cover-up. President Ebrahim Raisi, who since his election last year has tightened enforcement of the headscarf law, spoke to Amini’s family by phone on Sunday. “Your daughter is like my daughter and I feel that this incident happened to one of my loved ones. Please accept my condolences,” state media reported. Raisi is traveling to New York where he is to address the general assembly on Tuesday about the future of the nuclear deal with the West. Western officials involved in the talks met on Monday in New York to stress that they would not make Iran a better offer, but Iranian sources said there appeared to be a move by the UN nuclear weapons watchdog, the IAEA, that could unblock one of the obstacles to agreement. Raisi will hope the protests have died down by the time he speaks in New York. Former Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he was ashamed of what happened to Amini. Speaking at a press conference, Greater Tehran Police Commander Hossein Rahimi said Amini was stopped by the morality police, known as “Gasht-e Ershad”, while walking in a park because her hijab was “inappropriate”. He insisted the police had made no mistakes and protested the “cowardly accusations” leveled against his force. “There was no negligence on the part of the police, not even a small slip. All the words published in cyberspace about the cause of death are pure lies.” Rahimi said there was “no confrontation or resistance” during Amini’s detention, claiming she was “even joking” while in the morality police van. He admitted that “guidance patrol officers are equipped with body cameras, but in this case they did not have a camera.” In social media posted online, there was footage of police motorbikes on fire and large crowds gathering to demand the relaxation of hijab rules. Protesters threw stones at security forces in the Kurdistan city of Divandarreh, according to a video posted on Twitter by Kurdish rights group Hengaw. A widely followed Iranian Twitter account focused on the protests in Iran said shopkeepers had gone on strike in Kurdish towns. Students demonstrated, including at the capital Tehran’s and Shahid Beheshti universities, demanding “clarification” on how Mahsa Amini died, and water cannons appeared in the streets in an attempt to quell the protests. Many women joined the protests by refusing to wear the hijab. Reinforcing denials of any wrongdoing in the death, police chief Hossein Rahimi said Amini had suffered no physical harm and police “did everything” to keep her alive. “This incident was unfortunate for us and we wish to never witness such incidents,” Rahimi said, describing the allegations of ill-treatment as “cowardly”. Amini was visiting Tehran with her family on Tuesday last week when she was arrested by morality police in what Amnesty International called an “arbitrary arrest”. Police accused her of not complying with the country’s hijab regulations and took her to a police station, telling her family she would be released after a “re-education” session. However, he was later taken in a coma to the emergency department of a nearby hospital. Photographs of her face at the hospital showed discoloration around her ears that appeared consistent with physical abuse. He died on Friday. Official police department reports say Amini died of a heart attack, but her family blames the police. Videos shared on Twitter late Sunday showed protesters demonstrating in Sanadai, the capital of Kurdistan province. A video released by Hengaw shows security forces in riot gear running down a city street, at least one of them firing what appeared to be a gun. The US claimed responsibility for the case. “The death of Mahsa Amini following injuries sustained while in police custody for wearing an ‘inappropriate’ hijab is a horrific and flagrant violation of human rights,” said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. “Women in Iran should have the right to wear what they want, without violence or harassment. Iran must stop using violence against women to exercise their fundamental freedoms,” the official said. “There must be accountability for Mahsa’s death.”
