At Least 9 Killed as Iran Protests Spread Over Mahsa Amini’s Death

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows a bin burning in the middle of an intersection during a protest for Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 20, 2022. (AFP)
A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows a bin burning in the middle of an intersection during a protest for Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 20, 2022. (AFP)
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At Least 9 Killed as Iran Protests Spread Over Mahsa Amini’s Death

A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows a bin burning in the middle of an intersection during a protest for Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 20, 2022. (AFP)
A picture obtained by AFP outside Iran shows a bin burning in the middle of an intersection during a protest for Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the country's "morality police", in Tehran on September 20, 2022. (AFP)

Clashes between Iranian security forces and protesters angry over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody have killed at least nine people since the violence erupted over the weekend, according to a tally Thursday by The Associated Press.

Widespread outages of Instagram and WhatsApp, which protesters use to share information about the government’s rolling crackdown on dissent, continued on Thursday. Authorities also appeared to disrupt internet access to the outside world, a tactic that rights activists say the government often employs in times of unrest.

The demonstrations in Iran began as an emotional outpouring over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman held by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating its strictly enforced dress code.

Her death has sparked sharp condemnation from the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. The police said she died of a heart attack and was not mistreated, but her family has cast doubt on that account.

The protests have grown in the last four days into an open challenge to the government, with women removing their state-mandated headscarves in the streets and Iranians setting trash bins ablaze.

“Death to the dictator!” has been a common cry in the protests.

Demonstrations have also rocked university campuses in Tehran and far flung western cities such as Kermanshah.

In Amini’s home province in the northwest, Kurdistan, the provincial police chief said four protesters were killed by live fire. In Kermanshah, the prosecutor said two protesters were killed by opposition groups, insisting that the bullets were not fired by Iran’s security forces.



Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
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Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of US pro-Palestinian campus protests, sued the Trump administration Thursday for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody following his arrest in March.

The 30-year-old was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana last month, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail.

"The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr. Khalil 'in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,' the claim says," according to the Center for Constitutional Rights which is backing Khalil.

Khalil suffered "severe emotional distress, economic hardship (and) damage to his reputation," the claim adds.

The Columbia University graduate was a figurehead of student protests against US ally Israel's war in Gaza, and the Trump administration labeled him a national security threat.

Khalil called the lawsuit a "first step towards accountability."

"Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss," he said in the statement.

"There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power."

Khalil has previously shared his "horrendous" experience in detention, where he "shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time."

President Donald Trump's government has justified pushing for Khalil's deportation by saying his continued presence in the United States could carry "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

Khalil's detention came amid Trump's campaign against top US universities in recent months, with the president facing off against Columbia, Harvard and other schools over foreign student enrollment while cutting federal grants and threatening to strip accreditation.

Beyond his legal case, Khalil's team has expressed fear he could face threats out of detention.