Iranians have taken to the streets for a 10th consecutive night to protest against the death of Mahsa Amini in defiance of a warning from the judiciary.
There have been 41 deaths since the unrest began, mostly protesters but including members of the security forces, but sources say the real figure is higher.
Norway-based group Iran Human Rights IHR said on Sunday evening that the death toll was at least 57, but added that ongoing internet blackouts were making it harder to confirm fatalities in a context where the women-led protests have spread to scores of cities.
Images circulated by IHR showed protesters on the streets of Tehran shouting death to the dictator purportedly after nightfall on Sunday.
The judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, stressed on Sunday that there was no need for decisive action without leniency against the core instigators of the riots, a warning by the president, Ebrahim Raisi.
Hundreds of protesters, reformist activists and journalists have been arrested since unrest broke out on September 16 after 22-year-old Amini died in police custody. Amini was arrested by the morality police for not wearing a hijab properly.
The largest protests in Iran in almost three years have seen security forces fire live rounds, while protesters have hurled rocks, torched police cars and set fire to state buildings.
Some female protesters have removed and burned their hijabs in the rallies and cut off their hair, some dancing near large bonfires to the applause of crowds who have chanted zan, zendegi, azadi or woman, freedom Web monitor NetBlocks noted rolling blackouts and widespread internet platform restrictions with WhatsApp, Instagram and Skype having already been blocked. The bans on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram followed.
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that the US had taken tangible steps to sanction the morality police because of the widespread use of force against nonviolent protesters, and condemned the internet restrictions as blatantly violating the freedom of expression.
The UK was blamed for the hostile nature of London-based Farsi media. The UK foreign ministry said it championed media freedom and condemned Iran's crackdown on protesters, journalists and internet freedom. Norway s envoy was summoned to explain the interventionist stance of its parliament speaker, Tehran-born Masud Gharahkhani, who has expressed support for the protesters.
If my parents had not made the decision to flee in 1987, I would have been one of those fighting in the streets with my life on the line, said Gharahkhani on Sunday.
The main event took place on Sunday, with pro-government rallies taking place in central Tehran.
One of the main teachers unions called for teachers and students to hold a national strike on Monday and Wednesday.
Protests abroad have been held in solidarity with Iranian women in Paris, Berlin, Athens, Berlin, Istanbul, Madrid, New York and Athens.
Iranian Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi called on activists and artists around the world to support the protesters, who he said they were looking for simple and yet fundamental rights that the state denied them for years. I deeply respect their struggle for freedom and the right to choose their own destiny despite all the brutality they are subject to, Farhadi said in a post on Instagram.