ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Security forces in western Iran’s Kurdish region (Rojhelat) have summoned and warned people against participating in general strikes ahead of Zhina Amini’s death anniversary, with at least 10 people arrested in connection with the event, a human rights monitor reported.

On Wednesday, Kurdish-majority cities in western Iran largely went on general strike for the fourth anniversary of Amini, heeding the earlier call of a coalition of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

Videos also circulated on social media showing several cities, including Saqqez, Sanandaj (Sina), Mahabad, Bukan, and more, with shops closed and commercial activity limited.

“At least 10 Kurdish individuals were arrested in recent days in connection with the strike in Oshnavieh, Mahabad, and Sanandaj,” the Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights Organization said late Wednesday. 

Shopkeepers and merchants closed their shops in at least 11 cities, according to the monitor. 

“Security agencies spent three days summoning civil society activists and business owners and warning them against participating” ahead of the strike, it added. 

The monitor described the environment in several Kurdish cities, including Amini’s hometown Saqqez, as “heavily militarized” ahead of the anniversary, with “semi-heavy weapons” being deployed from central areas of the country.

Since Amini’s death, Kurds in Iran have held general strikes on the anniversary in her honor and in solidarity with her family, as a form of protest against state repression.

Amini, a young Kurdish woman, died in September 2022 in police custody of Iran’s so-called morality police over her alleged lax hijab, sparking one of Iran’s largest nationwide uprisings, known as the Jin Jiyan Azadi (Women Life Freedom) movement.

Iranian authorities heavily cracked down on the demonstrations, with over 500 people killed and tens of thousands of others arrested during the nationwide movement.

Rojhelat holds significant political and geographic sensitivity, long marked by resistance to Tehran’s policies as residents face decades of discrimination, heavy security crackdowns, economic underdevelopment, and limited job opportunities.

On Wednesday, a coalition of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups expressed gratitude for the “success” of the general strike the group called for, saying the strike affirmed that Kurdish political forces and the Kurdish people are an “inseparable whole.”