TEHRAN
\nThe United States has imposed sanctions on Iran\u2019s morality police and leaders of government agencies after the death of a woman in police custody sparked protests and worldwide condemnation.
\nAt least nine protesters and two security force officers have been killed in violent demonstrations since the weekend following 22-year-old Mahsa Amini\u2019s death.
\nThe morality police detained Miss Amini last week, saying she didn\u2019t properly cover her hair with a headscarf – known as the hijab – which is mandatory for Iranian women. Miss Amini collapsed at a police station and died three days later.
\nThe US Treasury designated the leaders of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the Army\u2019s Ground Forces, the Basij Resistance Forces, and other law enforcement agencies for the sanctions – which deny them access to their properties and bank accounts held in the US.
\n\u201cThese officials oversee organisations that routinely employ violence to suppress peaceful protesters and members of Iranian civil society, political dissidents, women\u2019s rights activists, and members of the Iranian Baha\u2019i community,\u201d the Treasury said in a news release.
\nPolice say Miss Amini died of a heart attack and deny she was mistreated, and the government released video footage purporting to show the moment she collapsed.
\nBut her family says she had no history of heart trouble, and her death in police custody has triggered daring displays of defiance from protesters, in the face of beatings and possible arrest.
\nIndependent experts affiliated with the UN said on Thursday that reports suggested she was severely beaten by the morality police, without offering evidence.
\nNiloufar Hamedi, a journalist who took photographs at the hospital after Ms Amini\u2019s death, was arrested on Thursday, according to the reporter\u2019s lawyer, Mohammadali Kamfirouzi.
\nHe said her house was raided.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEHRAN The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran\u2019s morality police and leaders of government agencies after the death of a woman in police custody sparked protests and worldwide condemnation. At least nine protesters and two security force officers have been killed in violent demonstrations since the weekend following 22-year-old Mahsa Amini\u2019s death. The morality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-285295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n