Protests in Iran over woman's death reach key oil industry

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Workers at the site of a major complex of refineries crucial for Iran's massive offshore natural gas field protested Monday over the death of a 22-year-old woman, online videos appeared to show.

The demonstrations at Asaluyeh mark the first time the unrest surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini threatened the coffers of Iran's long-sanctioned theocratic government — its oil and gas industry.

While it remains unclear if other workers will follow, the protests come as demonstrations rage on in cities, towns and villages across Iran over the Sept. 16 death of Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police in Tehran. Early on Monday, the sound of apparent gunshots and explosions echoed through the streets of a city in western Iran, while security forces reportedly killed one man in a nearby village, activists said.

Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating. Subsequent videos have shown security forces beating and shoving female protesters, including women who have torn off their mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

From Tehran and elsewhere, online videos have emerged despite authorities disrupting the internet. Videos showed some women marching through the streets without headscarves, while others confronted authorities and lit fires in the street as the protests continue into a fourth week. The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 2009 Green Movement protests.

Online videos analyzed by The Associated Press showed dozens of workers gathered at the refineries in Asaluyeh, some 925 kilometers (575 miles) south of the capital, Tehran, on the Persian Gulf. The vast complex takes in natural gas from the massive...