Alarm grows as Iran readies crackdown

Interational Desk //

Rights groups voiced alarm yesterday over the extent of an Iranian crackdown on a Kurdish-populated city that has become a hub for protests.

Iran’s clerical authorities have been shaken by over three weeks of protests that erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year old Iranian of Kurdish origin, who had been arrested by the notorious morality police.

Protests have been especially intense in the city of Sanandaj in the western province of Kurdistan, Amini’s home region.

Amnesty International and the New-York based Center for Human Rights in Iran expressed concerns as authorities appears to move against the protests. The Norway-based Hengaw rights group said buses carrying special forces were on their way to the city from elsewhere in Iran.