UGC of clashes at Tehran demo over woman's death

Video obtained by the AP shows clashes on Monday in Tehran at protests over the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, while in police custody. The morality police detained 22-year-old Amini last Tuesday for not observing the Islamic dress code. Police say she died of a heart attack and deny that she was mistreated.

They released closed-circuit video footage last week purportedly showing the moment she collapsed. Her family says she had no history of heart trouble. Amini, who was Kurdish, was buried Saturday in her home city of Saqez in western Iran. Protests erupted in various Iranian cities and towns after her funeral. Several protesters were arrested and local media have confirmed 3 deaths in Western Iran so far.

Iran faced international criticism over the death of a woman held by its morality police, which ignited three days of protests, including clashes with security forces in the capital and other unrest that claimed at least three lives. The U.N. human rights office called for an investigation. The United States, which is trying to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, called on the Islamic Republic to end its “systemic persecution” of women. Italy also condemned her death.

Iranian officials dismissed the criticism as politically motivated and accused unnamed foreign countries of fomenting the unrest. Separately, an Iranian official said three people had been killed by unnamed armed groups in the Kurdish region of the country where the protests began, the first official confirmation of deaths linked to the unrest. Later on Monday, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported that small groups of protesters had again gathered in downtown Tehran, chanting “Death to the dictator.” It said the crowd numbered around 300 and that the protesters damaged street signs.