Anonymous hacks Iran state websites, 3 dead in protests: Latest updates

Three people, including a member of the security forces have been killed during protests in Iran after the custodial death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in Tehran on Friday (September 13). Angry citizens have taken the country by storm as the protests have now spread to at leas 16 provinces of Iran.

Iran's website hacked: On Wednesday (September 21) several state-run media and government websites of Iran were reported to be down after a Twitter account with the name "Anonymous" hacker claimed to launch a cyber attack on these websites in support of protests against the death of Mahsa Amini. 

Hacker group Anonymous announced support for #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/xwUwMZwJlQ

— FJ (@Natsecjeff) September 20, 2022

It appeared that the two main websites of Iranian government were the target of the attacks. One was the "smart services" website of the government where online services were offered. The other was the website which was disseminated government news  and interviews with the officials.

A social media account affiliated with the Anonymous claimed, "All database has been deleted."

Along with this several other websites including the webpage of Iranian state television were also attacked and were down. The websites were later recovered from hackers.

What happened: Amini was detained outside a metro station by the "moral police" of Iran, also known as "Gasht-e-Ershad" on September 13 (Friday).

• She was accused of breaking the law which requires the women of Iran to cover their hair, faces with headscarf and their arms and legs with loose clothing.  
• She was taken in a police custody and it is alleged that she was tortured by the police. 
• Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ,Nada Al-Nashif said to BBC that the police hit the head of Amini with a baton inside the police van and banged her head against one of their vehicles. 
• The police denied the claim of custodial torture and said that she suffered "cardiac failure". 
• Her family, however, said that she was fit and healthy and there was no scenario where she could have suffered a heart failure.
• Amini breathed her last at a hospital in Tehran.

The protests widen: It has been five days since Amini died and the protests have swelled by each passing day. Videos posted on social media revealed that the protests had spread to at least 16 out of 31 provinces of Iran.

• In a video going viral on social media, some women were even seen publicly burning the headscarves.

  These women in #Iran’s northern city of Sari are dancing and burning their headscarves… anti-regime protests have now spread to dozens of cities from north to south, east to west… all triggered by the death of #MahsaAmini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police. pic.twitter.com/BBDvgC5L1w

  — Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) September 20, 2022

• In one of the boldest signs of protest, the people were also seen tearing down the picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeni from a municipal building in the northern city of Sari.
• In other places, protestors were also seen chasing away police officials in the city of Qazwin, northern Iran.
• The casualties of the protests: Iran's state-controlled Tasnim news agency reported that at least three people have been killed in the protests.
• Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said that at least 38 people were injured in two cities, BBC reported.
• Iran's state-run Irna news agency said that a police assistant died of the injuries he had sustained in violent clashes with the protestors in the Southern city of Shiraz on Tuesday, Voa News reported.

Iran's hijab laws: After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, authorities in Iran imposed a mandatory dress code which required all the women to cover their faces with headscarves and also wear loose fitted clothing in the public.

The morality police is tasked with the duty of checking whether the women are properly following the rules or not

They also have the power to stop women and reprimand them if they are not wearing headscarf or if their trousers and turncoats are too short or if they are wearing too much make-up. 

Punishments for violating these rules include fine, prison and even flogging.