Iran accuses the US of 'hypocrisy' over anti-hijab protests

 The Islamic Republic of Iran accused the United States (US) of "hypocrisy" on human rights after US President Joe Biden said he would impose "further costs" over its response to protests that have rocked Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini.

The foreign ministry spokesman of Iran, Nasser Kanaani, said, "It would have been better for Joe Biden to think a little about the human rights record of the US before making humanitarian gestures, although hypocrisy does not need to be thought through.”

Protests have rocked the Islamic nation since the Kurdish woman, Amini, died on September 16 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran, the capital of Iran, for allegedly failing to observe the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

Amini was detained by Iran’s morality police on September 13 for not wearing her Hijab correctly. She was forced into the morality police van and taken to a station on Vezarat Street. After three days in a coma, the doctor at Kasra hospital pronounced her dead.

Witnesses said that the morality police beat Amini for wearing the Hijab loosely. Human rights groups claimed that the morality police killed her because her hair was visible. Witnesses also posted about the whole incident on their social media accounts. Amini was assaulted in the police van while being driven to a detention center for a “re-education lesson” on Hijab and dress codes. Erfan Salih Mortezaee, the cousin of Amini, also said that the morality police beat her. 

The protests first emerged in Tehran outside Kasra hospital, where Amini was pronounced dead. Later on, the protests spread across other cities in Iran. Many Iranian women burned their Hijabs on the street. 

The street violence has led to the deaths of dozens of people, including protesters and security forces. Hundreds of people, including women, have also been arrested by the security forces.