Key moments in Iran's anti-hijab revolt

PARIS - The death a year ago of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini following her arrest by Iran's notorious morality police sparked months of protests against the compulsory wearing of the Muslim headscarf which were brutally repressed.

Hundreds of people, including dozens of security personnel, were killed in the biggest wave of civil unrest in the Islamic republic in years.

AFP looks back on a landmark year for Iranian women: - September 16, 2022: Amini's death - Amini, an Iranian of Kurdish origin, dies in hospital after being taken into custody three days earlier by the morality police on charges of violating Iran's strict dress code for women, including the mandatory hijab or headscarf.

The police say she died because of health problems, but rights activists and a relative say she was beaten in custody.

- Protests begin - Protests start after Amini is buried in her home town of Saqez in northwest Kurdistan province, and quickly spread.

Videos posted on social media show Iranian girls and women defiantly removing or even burning their headscarves and chanting "Woman, life, freedom".

The authorities try to tamp down the unrest by limiting internet access, but the protests gain momentum.

Teenage girls are among the most militant.

- October 2022: Iran accuses US - Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accuses arch foes the United States and Israel of fomenting what he calls "riots".

Students, oil workers, lawyers, shopkeepers, students and teachers join the protests.

The security forces clash with people marking the end of the traditional 40-day mourning period for Amini in Saqez.

Several hundred Iranians, including members of the security forces, are killed and tens of thousands arrested in October and November.

- December 2022: first execution - In December, Iran carries out its first protest-related execution, hanging a man who was sentenced to death for blocking a street and wounding a paramilitary member.

By January 21, the judiciary has issued 18 death sentences in connection with the protests, according to an AFP count.

The Iranian authorities then hold out an olive branch, releasing numerous detainees in February 2023 under an amnesty.

- April 2023: surveillance - Police start using surveillance cameras and facial recognition technology in public places to identify and then penalise women who violate the dress code.

More than 150 businesses -- shops, restaurants and reception areas -- are closed down in 24 hours because their employees did not wear headscarves.

- May 2023: new hijab bill - In May, the government introduces a "Support for the Culture of Hijab and Chastity" bill that urges stiffer fines for "any person removing their veil in public places or on the internet", while other penalties include the temporary confiscation of a woman's vehicle.

Ultraconservative MPs say this is not tough enough because it changes the removal of the hijab from a felony to a misdemeanour.

- July 2023: journalists arrested - The number of arrests increases. In mid-August a journalist who interviewed Mahsa Amini's father is arrested after publishing a photo of herself unveiled, two days after she left prison.

Since the protests began, more than 90 journalists have been arrested or questioned, the reformist Shargh daily reports.

In August, Iranian pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi is arrested for a song encouraging women to remove their hijabs.

- September: anniversary crackdown - The authorities try to head off protests in the run-up to the first anniversary of Amini's death.

Six people are arrested in the southwest accused of organising "riots" to mark her death, authorities say.

In Saqez, Amini's uncle is arrested, rights groups say. - AFP