Iran mourners flock to Mahsa Amini grave despite crackdown

Iranian mourners gathered at the grave of Mahsa Amini to mark 40 days since her death, defying heightened security measures as part of a bloody crackdown on women-led protests.

"Woman, life, freedom", dozens of men and women chanted at the Aichi cemetery in Saqez, Amini's home town in the western province of Kurdistan, in videos shared online.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on September 16, three days after her arrest by the notorious morality police while visiting Tehran with her younger brother.

Anger flared at her funeral last month and quickly sparked the biggest wave of protests to rock the Islamic republic in almost three years. Young women and schoolgirls have led the charge, removing and burning their headscarves and confronting security forces on the street.

Images shared by the Hengaw rights group showed the heavy presence overnight of security forces in Saqez who reportedly shut off entrances to the city.

Despite that, dozens of people were seen streaming into the city in cars and on motorcycles, as well as on foot along roads and across open fields, in footage posted online by the Hengaw rights group.

Iran blocked internet access for "security reasons" in Saqez, the home town of Mahsa Amini at the end of a 40-day mourning period following her death, local media reported.

The judiciary said it has pressed charges against over 300 people in connection with the nationwide protests over Amini's death, bringing the total to more than 1,000.