TEHRAN – Schoolgirls in Iran have been waving their headscarves in the air and chanting against clerical authorities, in an unprecedented show of support for the protests engulfing the country.
Videos verified by the BBC showed demonstrations inside schoolyards and on the streets of several cities.
They echoed the wider unrest sparked by the death last month of a woman who was detained for breaking the hijab law.
In Karaj, girls reportedly forced an education official out of their school.
Footage posted on social media on Monday showed them shouting “shame on you” and throwing what appear to be empty water bottles at the man until he retreats through a gate.
In another video from Karaj, which is just to the west of the capital Tehran, students are heard shouting: “If we don’t unite, they will kill us one by one.”
In the southern city of Shiraz on Monday, dozens of schoolgirls blocked traffic on a main road while waving their headscarves in the air and shouting “death to the dictator” – a reference to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.
Further protests by schoolgirls were reported on Tuesday in Karaj, Tehran and the north-western cities of Saqez and Sanandaj.
A number of students were also photographed standing in their classrooms with their heads uncovered.
Some were raising their middle fingers – an obscene gesture – at portraits of Ayatollah Khamenei and the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. (BBC)
