Hundreds of Melburnians have gathered in solidarity with protesters in Iran, who have taken to the streets across the country, furious over the death of a woman while she was in the custody of Iran's morality police.
Mahsa Amini, 22, was arrested in Iran last week for wearing "unsuitable attire". She fell into a coma while in detention, and later died in hospital.
Human rights advocates have accused Iranian police of beating Ms Amini, but they have denied harming her.
Her death has sparked widespread anger over Iran's restrictions on personal freedoms, its strict dress codes for women, and also the nation's struggling economy, which is reeling from sanctions.
Iran state television said on Saturday that at least 41 people had been killed during the week-long unrest.
Protests have now spread to more than 80 Iranian cities, and demonstrations are now also taking place across Europe, the US, Canada, South America and elsewhere.
In Melbourne, Iranian Australians and activists marched down Swanston Street on Saturday chanting "freedom for Iran".
One woman cut off her hair as the crowd chanted "freedom" in Persian.
Smaller rallies also took place in Canberra. A demonstration on the lawns of Parliament House is planned for Tuesday.
The protesters have urged the Australian government to step up its response to the regime's deadly crackdown on Iranian protesters.
On Friday, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) spokesperson said the government was "deeply concerned by reports that people have been killed and many more injured" during the protests.
"The Australian government is alarmed by the heavy-handed measures Iranian authorities have implemented … including the use of violence against protesters and efforts to restrict internet access," they said.
"We support the right of the Iranian people to protest peacefully.
"We call on the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint in response to ongoing demonstrations."
'We need to be their voice'
Human rights activist Deniz, who organised the Melbourne demonstration, told the ABC she was concerned for the safety of her family, which she had had difficulty contacting during the recent internet restrictions.
"I can't stand [that] my mum, my dad, my family, my friends live like that, live brutally in Iran," Deniz, whose last name has been withheld to protect her family, said.
She said she left Iran after experiencing violence while taking part in demonstrations calling for civil and women's rights as a university student.
She urged the Australian public and government to raise awareness of the Iranian regime's actions and fight to protect freedom of communication in the country.
"We need to be [their] voice … because they are cutting off protesters' voices from Iran," she said.
"We need international forces to stop [them] cutting off the Internet."
The secretary of the Iranian Women's Association, Nos Hosseini, said she was worried about the welfare of Iranian protesters.
"If we don't stand up with the Iranian people and we don't show solidarity with the Iranian people in the movement and what we see on the streets of Iran, the Iranian regime will respond in the way that it always has, and it will crush the … Iranian people."
Meanwhile, during protests in Greece, men shaved their heads and women lopped off ponytails as others set fire to headscarves.
"I'm cutting my hair because many of my sisters in Iran are going to die, maybe tomorrow, because of hijab," 31-year-old Eli Fazlollah, who left Tehran in 2018, said.
"I'm here to support my people because they don't have [a] voice."
Dozens of people Iraq rallied outside the United Nations compound in Erbil on Saturday, carrying placards with Ms Amini's photograph and chanting "death to the dictator" in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In Berlin, protester Shahrzad Sadredini said: "I experienced the same situation when I was 16."
"I was lucky that my head wasn't fractured, but I have experienced the same violence and we won't allow this to happen again wherever it happens in the world."
President Raisi vows to 'deal decisively' with protesters
The protests are the largest to sweep Iran since demonstrations over fuel prices in 2019, when 1,500 people were killed in the resulting crackdown.
Women have played a prominent role in the latest demonstrations, waving and burning their veils. Some have publicly cut their hair as furious crowds have called for the Ayatollah to be removed from office.
On Friday, state-organised rallies took place in several Iranian cities to counter the anti-government protests, and the army promised to confront "the enemies" behind the unrest.
On Saturday, state media quoted Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi as saying Iran must "deal decisively with those who oppose the country's security and tranquillity".
The president "stressed the necessity to distinguish between protest and disturbing public order and security", describing the demonstrations as riots, according to state media.
Rights group Amnesty International said protesters faced a "spiralling deadly response from security forces" and called for an independent United Nations investigation.
On the night of September 21, shootings by security forces left at least 19 people dead, including three children, it said.
"The rising death toll is an alarming indication of just how ruthless the authorities' assault on human life has been under the darkness of the internet shutdown," Amnesty said.
State television showed footage purporting to show calm had returned to many parts of the capital Tehran late on Friday.
"But in some western and northern areas of Tehran and certain provinces rioters destroyed public property," it said, showing footage of protesters setting fire to garbage bins and a car, marching, and throwing rocks.
The activist Twitter account 1500tasvir carried videos of protests near Tehran university on Saturday. Riot police were seen clashing with protesters and arresting some.
The videos posted online and the scale of the response from the authorities are difficult to independently verify.
