Iranian security forces cracked down on protests in Kurdish areas of the country and briefly detained the father of Mahsa Amini, a year after the young woman's death in custody set off some of the worst political unrest in four decades.
State-affiliated media reported arrests of several "counter revolutionaries" and "terrorists" in different Iranian cities on Saturday and said security forces had foiled plots to create disturbances around illegal demonstrations.
The death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested by the morality police last year for allegedly flouting mandatory dress codes, triggered months of some of the biggest protests against the Islamic Republic's Shi'ite clerical rule ever seen and drew international condemnation.
As night fell on Saturday, a heavy security force presence in Iran's mostly Kurdish areas appeared to have deterred large-scale protest rallies but human rights groups reported sporadic confrontations in several areas of the country.
Videos posted on social media showed people gathered on a main avenue in the capital Tehran cheering a young protesting couple as drivers honked their car horns in support.
The official IRNA news agency reported that fire engulfed the women's ward at the Qarchak prison in Tehran province before being put out after convicts awaiting execution set fire to their clothes. It said there were no casualties.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network, which said the incident was linked to the protests, said special forces entered the ward, beat up the women and fired pellet bullets.
There were reports of gunfire in the Kurdish city of Mahabad, violence in the city of Kermanshah and pellet guns fired in Amini's home town of Saqez where a man was accused of ignoring a police warning.
Social media postings also carried footage of residents of cities including Tehran shouting out slogans against Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei such as "Death to the Dictator!" as well as protests in areas including Gohardasht, in the city of Karaj west of Tehran, and in Mashhad in the northeast.
In the demonstrations that followed Amini's death more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups said. Iran carried out seven executions linked to the unrest.
On Saturday, Mahsa's father, Amjad Amini, was warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter's death before being released, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said and the family was not able to hold a planned vigil at her graveside.
The crackdown on protests came as the condemnation by the United Nations nuclear watchdog of Tehran's decision to bar several inspectors from the country underlined Iran's isolation from the West.
In a statement on Friday, US President Joe Biden said: "Mahsa's story did not end with her brutal death. She inspired a historic movement -- Woman, Life, Freedom -- that has impacted Iran and influenced people across the globe."
Britain on Friday imposed sanctions on four Iranian officials and the United States said it was sanctioning more than two dozen individuals and entities connected to Iran's "violent suppression" of protests.
"Say her name" protests in international cities from Adelaide to Washington were planned for Saturday and widespread strikes were reported in multiple cities in Iran's Kurdistan region.
Australian Associated Press
