As a result of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody, Tuesday evening saw the arrest of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s daughter for reportedly “inciting unrest.”
Faezeh Hashemi was reportedly detained by a security agency for “instigating riots in east Tehran,” according to a report by a semi-official news agency, which also noted that the “provocations” failed to mobilize the populace.
Since Mahsa Amini died in police custody last week after being imprisoned by the nation’s morality police for “dressing improperly,” Tehran and other major Iranian cities have been shaken by irate rallies.
At least 41 people have died due to the violent turn the protests have taken recently, involving both police personnel and citizens. Additionally, hundreds of others, including activists, have been detained.
Hashemi, a 59-year-old well-known advocate for women’s rights, has previously clashed with Iranian security forces over her suspected involvement in “anti-government” activities.
Because of her statements in an interview on the removal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the US State Department’s list of foreign terrorist groups, she was accused in July of “propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic.”
She allegedly claimed that Islam’s Prophet Muhammad squandered Khadija, his “businesswoman wife, money, “which the legal system deemed “blasphemy.”
Hashemi served six months in a Tehran prison after being accused of “propaganda activities” in September 2012 after allegedly referring to the Iranian court as “thugs and hoodlums who attack individuals” in an interview.
