Angry protests flare again across Iran

Protesters in Zahedan, the Sistan-Baluchistan provincial capital, chanted "Death to the dictator", taking aim at supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a video shared by Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and verified by AFP.

Other images from Zahedan show crowds of men, some raising posters with anti-regime slogans, and a group of black-clad women marching down what appears to be a nearby street, also chanting slogans.

The Islamic republic has seen waves of protests since the September 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands arrested in the unrest, leading to international condemnation, sanctions, and Iran's removal Wednesday from a UN women's rights body.

Sistan-Baluchistan, which lies on Iran's southeastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, had been the site of often deadly violence even before nationwide protests erupted.

The province's Baluchi minority, who adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shia branch predominant in Iran, have long complained of discrimination.

US-based rights group HRANA said hundreds rallied after Friday prayers in Zahedan, which has seen weekly protests since the security forces killed more than 90 people in the city on September 30, in what has been dubbed "Bloody Friday".

The trigger for that violence was the alleged rape in custody of a 15-year-old girl by a police commander in the province's port city of Chabahar.

But analysts say Baluchis were inspired by the protests that flared over Mahsa Amini's death, which were initially driven by women's rights but have expanded to include other grievances.