Biden says that we stand with the courageous residents and the courageous girls of Iran. (File)

United Nations:

US President Joe Biden vowed solidarity with Iranian girls Wednesday as eight individuals have been reported killed in rising protests over the demise of a younger lady arrested by morality police.

Addressing the United Nations shortly after a defiant speech by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Biden saluted the protesters whereas renewing his assist for reviving a nuclear accord with Tehran.

“Today we stand with the brave citizens and the brave women of Iran who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights,” Biden informed the General Assembly.

Public anger has flared within the Islamic republic since authorities on Friday introduced the demise of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been held for allegedly carrying a hijab headband in an “improper” means.

Activists stated the lady, whose Kurdish first title is Jhina, had suffered a deadly blow to the pinnacle, a declare denied by officers, who’ve introduced an investigation.

Some girls demonstrators have defiantly taken off their hijabs and burned them in bonfires or symbolically reduce their hair earlier than cheering crowds, video footage unfold on social media has proven.

“No to the headscarf, no to the turban, yes to freedom and equality!” protesters in Tehran have been heard chanting in a rally that has been echoed by solidarity protests overseas.

Protests stuffed cities, particularly in northern Iran, for a fifth straight evening Wednesday, with activists reporting clashes in cities together with Urmia and Sardasht.

In southern Iran, video footage purportedly from Wednesday confirmed demonstrators setting hearth to a huge image on the aspect of a constructing of common Qassem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guards commander killed in a 2020 US strike in Iraq.

Iranian state media reported that road rallies had unfold to fifteen cities, with police utilizing tear gasoline and making arrests to disperse crowds of as much as 1,000 individuals.

London-based rights group Article 19 stated it was “deeply concerned by reports of the unlawful use of force by Iranian police and security forces,” together with using stay ammunition.

Demonstrators hurled stones at safety forces, set hearth to police autos and rubbish bins and chanted anti-government slogans, the official IRNA information company stated.

“Death to the dictator” and “Woman, life, freedom,” protesters might be heard shouting in video footage that unfold past Iran, regardless of on-line restrictions reported by web entry monitor Netblocks.

‘Double requirements’

In his UN tackle, Raisi pointed to the deaths of Indigenous girls in Canada in addition to Israeli actions within the Palestinian territories and the Islamic State group’s “savagery” towards girls from non secular minority teams.

“So long as we have this double standard, where attention is solely focused on one side and not all equally, we will not have true justice and fairness,” Raisi stated.

He additionally pushed again on Western phrases to revive a 2015 nuclear accord, insisting that Iran “is not seeking to build or obtain nuclear weapons and such weapons have no place in our doctrine.”

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly stated that “the Iranian leadership should notice that the people are unhappy with the direction that they have taken.”

“They could abandon their nuclear weapons aspirations. They could stop the repression of voices within their own country. They could stop their destabilizing activities,” he informed AFP on the United Nations.

“A different path is possible. That is the path that we want Iran to take and that is the path that will see them with a stronger economy, a more happy society and a more active part in the international community.”

French President Emmanuel Macron stated he requested Raisi in a gathering Tuesday to indicate “respect for women’s rights.”

‘Significant shock’

The protests are among the many most critical in Iran since November 2019 unrest over gasoline worth rises.

The wave of unrest over Amini’s demise “is a very significant shock, it is a societal crisis,” stated Iran professional David Rigoulet-Roze of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs.

Demonstrations first erupted Friday in Amini’s residence province of Kurdistan, the place governor Ismail Zarei Koosha stated Tuesday three individuals had been killed in “a plot by the enemy.”

Kurdistan police commander Ali Azadi on Wednesday introduced the demise of one other particular person, in line with Tasnim information company.

Two extra protesters “were killed during the riots” in Kermanshah province, the area’s prosecutor Shahram Karami was quoted as saying by Fars information company, blaming “counter-revolutionary agents.”

Additionally, Norway-based Kurdish rights group Hengaw stated two protesters, aged 16 and 23, had been killed in a single day in West Azerbaijan province.

An further 450 individuals had been wounded and 500 arrested, the group stated — figures that might not be independently verified.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)