Iranian security forces withdraw from riot area in Mahabad, 18 injured

MAHABAD—The office of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has ordered security forces to avoid clashing with demonstrators and withdraw from the area where angry protestors torched a hotel in downtown Mahabad Thursday afternoon.

Rudaw has learned that Iranian security forces have withdrawn from the area around Tara Hotel where a female employee named Farinaz Khosrawani, 25, jumped to her death to avoid “rape by a security officer,”

Thousands of residents of Mahabd took to the streets of Mahabad after a call from opposition women’s rights activists to protest Farinza’s death.

Eyewitnesses told Rudaw that as a result of confrontations with the police and the use of tear gas 18 people have been injured.

“The mayor’s office and the office of the president believe that protecting people’s lives is more important than the hotel,” an official inside Mahabad mayor’s office told Rudaw.