PARIS – The Iranian authorities on Saturday prevented the family of Ms Mahsa Amini from holding a ceremony to commemorate the first anniversary of her death, confining her father to his home after briefly detaining him, rights groups said.

Ms Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died a few days after her arrest by religious police for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women in force since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Her family said she died from a blow to the head, but this was disputed by the Iranian authorities.

Anger over her death rapidly expanded into weeks of taboo-breaking protests, which saw women tearing off their mandatory headscarves in an open challenge to the Islamic republic’s system of government under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ms Amini’s father Amjad Amini was detained while leaving the family home in the western town of Saqez, and then released after being warned not to hold a memorial service at her graveside, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, 1500tasvir monitor and Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said.

He is now not allowed to leave the family home, and members of the security forces are stationed outside, the groups added in separate statements.

“Amjad Amini is under house arrest... Security forces are preventing him from visiting his daughter’s grave,” said IHR.

Official news agency IRNA described the reports of the arrest as “false”, saying they were aimed at “inciting the population to protest”.

Mr Amini was summoned by intelligence officials last week after announcing plans for a memorial ceremony. One of Ms Amini’s uncles, Mr Safa Aeli, was detained in Saqez on Sept 5 and remains in custody.

There was no sign of a ceremony taking place at Ms Amini’s grave at the Aichi cemetery in Saqez, and rights groups said security forces had blocked access to the site.

‘Chokehold on dissent’

The protests sparked by Ms Amini’s death lost momentum after several months, in the face of a crackdown that saw security forces kill 551 protesters, according to IHR, and the arrest of more than 22,000, according to Amnesty International.

The Iranian authorities said dozens of security personnel were also killed in what they described as “riots” incited by foreign governments and hostile media.

Seven men have been executed after being convicted in protest-related cases.

Campaigners said the authorities have renewed their crackdown in the run-up to the anniversary, putting pressure on relatives of those killed in the protests in a bid to stop them from speaking out.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said family members of at least 36 people killed or executed in the crackdown had been interrogated, arrested, prosecuted or sentenced to prison over the past month.

“The Iranian authorities are trying to impose a chokehold on dissent to prevent public commemoration of Mahsa Jina Amini’s death in custody,” said HRW’s senior Iran researcher, Ms Tara Sepehri Far.

Meanwhile, Kurdish-focused group Hengaw said people in western Iran were expressing discontent through a general strike, with shops shut down in a dozen towns and cities, including Saqez.

Persian-language channels based outside Iran, including Iran International, broadcast footage of residents shouting “Death to the dictator” and the main protest slogan of “Woman, Life, Freedom” from apartment blocks in the capital Teheran and its satellite city of Karaj overnight.

In a symbolic move, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday met families of security personnel killed during the protests while on a visit to the north-eastern city of Mashhad, state media said.

‘Doubling down’

While some women are still seen walking in public without headscarves, particularly in the wealthy, traditionally liberal areas of north Teheran, the conservative-dominated Parliament is currently considering a draft law that will impose far stiffer penalties for non-compliance.

“The Islamic republic is doubling down on repression and reprisals against its citizens and seeking to introduce new and more draconian laws that severely restrict further the rights of women and girls,” said Ms Sara Hossain, the chair of a United Nations fact-finding mission set up to investigate the crackdown.

Under the slogan “Say her name!”, Iranian emigrants are expected to hold commemorative rallies, with large demonstrations expected in Paris and Toronto.

On the eve of the anniversary, Iran’s arch foe – the United States – and its Western allies including Britain and the European Union imposed new sanctions on the Islamic republic over its protest crackdown.

Announcing the measures, US President Joe Biden led international calls in solidarity with Iranians on the anniversary of Ms Amini’s death.

“Iranians alone will determine the fate of their country, but the United States remains committed to standing with them,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani slammed the Western countries’ “illegal and undiplomatic actions” in a statement late on Friday. AFP