Iran President says protesters "must be dealt with decisively"
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Tehran: As the raging protests against hijab rules continue in Iran, President Ebrahim Raisi takes a more aggressive stand choosing to "deal decisively" with the protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini arrested by Morality Police.
Raisi in a televised interview said that those who had taken part in the riots must be dealt with decisively, adding that it is the demand of the people.
People safety is the red line of the Islamic republic of Iran and no one is allowed to break the law, AFP reported him as saying.
President Ebrahim Raisi accused USA of stoking the unrest saying that the enemy has targeted national unity aiming to pit people against each other.
In more conciliatory tone, he said the nation felt "grief and sorrow" over the death of Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in the custody of morality police arrested on September 16 for not wearing hijab modestly enough.
While saying that forensics and judiciary experts would soon present a final report, he warned that "protests are different to riots".
Following Amini's death in custody women came out in their hundreds on the streets demanding freedom from strict hijab rules handed out by a few religious heads in the nation.
They tossed hijabs in bonfire, cut their hairs in public, and confronted security forces for the first time for a cause that is too close home for most women in Iran.