Iranian mourners defy police to gather at Mahsa Amini's grave

Dozens of mourners in Iran defied security measures on Wednesday to gather at the grave of Mahsa Amini to mark 40 days since she died in police custody.

“Woman, life, freedom” and “death to the dictator” chanted dozens of men and women at the Aichi cemetery in Saqez, Amini's hometown in the western Kurdistan province, in videos shared online.

The 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin died three days after being taken into custody by the notorious “morality police” on September 13 while visiting Tehran with her younger brother.

Since then, protests have flared across the country in the largest display of public anger at the government in at least three years. Young women and schoolgirls have led the charge, removing and burning their headscarves and confronting security forces on the street.

The brutal crackdown by authorities, which has left at least 141 dead and hundreds detained and arrested, according to activists, has been condemned by nations around the world.

Wednesday marks 40 days since Amini's death and the end of the traditional mourning period in Iran.

Mourners headed to her grave to mark the occasion even though the security services had warned her family not to hold the ceremony, saying that otherwise “they should worry for their son's life”, according to activists.

Images shared by the Hengaw rights group showed the heavy presence overnight of security forces in Saqez. They 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 Hengaw.