The Farnesina, in concert with the Italian embassy in Tehran, is verifying the news that an Italian has been arrested in the Iranian capital, along with eight other foreign citizens, accused of being involved in the protests for the death of Mahsa Amini.
“Nine foreign nationals from Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and others were arrested during or behind the scene of the riots,” the Iranian intelligence ministry said in a statement. , so far, the deaths of at least 83 people, according to what was reported by the French agency AFP.
Iranian security forces opened fire on angry protesters on Friday, opposition media based abroad reported. “Death to the dictator,” sang bare-headed women in the northwestern city of Ardabil, reports Iran International, a Persian-language television station based in London.
In the southwestern city of Ahvaz, as the canal shows, security forces fired tear gas to disperse scores of people shouting anti-government slogans.
In Zahedan, near Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan, some men defied gunfire while stoning a police station, other footage shared by the canal shows. In the footage, which AFP was unable to verify immediately, stretchers were seen carrying away men bloodied from apparent gunshot wounds.
State media said Zahedan police returned fire when they were attacked by gunmen, while Ahmad Taheri, the provincial police chief of Sistan-Baluchestan, said three police stations were attacked. The state broadcaster said: “Several members of the police and passers-by were injured in the exchange of fire.”
The repression against the press has intensified enormously in recent weeks in the Islamic republic: on September 27, 20 journalists were arrested, including photojournalist Yalda Moaiery and Nilufar Hamedi, a reporter who risked his life to document the death of Masha Amini, a young leader of the protest against hijab in the country.