The demonstrations — which were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody for not following the country’s mandatory dress code for women — spread to more than 114 cities across 29 provinces in the country.
Amin Maaroufi, a 16-year-old boy was also reported to have been shot and killed by the regime’s paramilitary Basij forces during protests held in West Azerbaijan province.
Iran’s government approved a wide-ranging internet shutdown following Amini’s death, which blocked Iranians in the country from accessing sites including WhatsApp, Instagram and several central mobile networks.
Iranians across social media platforms urged other users to amplify their voices once the shutdown took effect and they were no longer able to post online.
Internet watchdog NetBlocks called the shutdown in Iran one of “the most severe internet restrictions since the November 2019 massacre.”
And global hacking collective Anonymous, said it was officially “at war” with the Iranian government, following Amini’s death and the regime’s decision to shut off the country’s internet.
The group announced the launch of a project called #OpIran on Twitter, and claimed responsibility for hacking several government websites, including sites for Iran’s president, a state-run online news outlet and a government-run medical research center.
The group also shared a link to the Tor Project, a browser which allows users to bypass internet censorship and log on to sites such as Twitter.
Kayhan Life’s thoughts are with Iranians demonstrating for their freedom.
