Iran arrests Mahsa Amini’s uncle ahead of one-year death anniversary: Rights group

Iran has arrested an uncle of Mahsa Amini, a young woman whose death last year ignited widespread protests across the country, a rights group reported on Tuesday.

Security forces arrested 30-year-old Safa Aeli on Tuesday in the Kurdish city of Saqqez, Amini’s hometown, before taking him to an unknown location, Hengaw, a foreign-based rights group that focuses on Iran’s Kurdish regions, said.

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Citing unnamed sources, Hengaw said security forces arrested Aeli without presenting an arrest warrant, adding that the motives behind his detention, the charges against him and his current whereabouts remain unknown.

Iranian authorities have not commented on the report.

The reported arrest comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of Amini’s death in police custody.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died on September 16, 2022, following her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress rules for women.

Her death sparked months of protests that quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

Foreign-based human rights organizations have reported multiple arrests in the lead-up to the anniversary of Amini’s death.

According to Hengaw, at least 72 family members of people who were killed during anti-government protests have been detained over the past five months.

Iranian authorities have characterized the demonstrations that followed Amini’s death as “riots” instigated by foreign actors.

The protests were met with a violent crackdown by the authorities, resulting in hundreds of casualties and the incarceration of thousands, according to human rights organizations.

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