Iranian legislator condemns protests over death of woman detained by police

A woman shouts slogans next to an Iranian flag during a protest against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, outside Iran’s general consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. Protests have erupted across Iran in recent days after Amini, a 22-year-old woman, died while being held by the morality police for violating the country’s strictly enforced Islamic dress code. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A hardline Iranian legislator has condemned female protesters who have taken off mandatory headscarves, calling them prostitutes, amid the dramatic scenes after the death of a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by the country’s morality police.

The harsh language by Mahmoud Nabavian, a legislator from Tehran, was in sharp contrast to the appeal by a senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamadani, who on Sunday urged the government to listen to the people’s demands.