A video of the protests in Iran puts the Iranian police in need of an explanation. It shows a police officer grabbing a woman's buttocks. The incident, which other protesters recorded and shared on social media, caused outrage across the country. The police initially tried to portray the video as a recording manipulated by opponents of the regime, but ultimately had to admit the incident. The case is now being investigated, it said in a press release, according to media reports on Saturday.

The attack is said to have happened this week in the north of the capital Tehran. The video shows that the police want to arrest a protester. However, she vehemently resisted. One of the police officers then grabbed the woman's buttocks.

People reacted outraged on social media and asked how the police of an Islamic state could commit such an immoral and sexist attack. The demonstrator was finally able to get free with the help of other demonstrators.

A PR campaign on Vali Asr Square in central Tehran was just as embarrassing for the system. A huge advertising banner with pictures of 50 important women should recognize their achievements for the country. From the point of view of the critics, however, the actual goal was to show that the Islamic Republic was not misogynistic.

But shortly thereafter, some of the women - as well as the families of the deceased figures - demanded that their pictures be removed. The system has no right to use these people for propaganda without permission in order to undermine the women's movement against discrimination. After the embarrassing PR disaster, those responsible had to remove the banner and replace it with a pictureless poster.

Nationwide protests have been shaking the country since mid-September. The trigger was the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the vice squad and died in custody on September 16. The uprising is mainly carried out by women and young Iranians. The security authorities sometimes act with great brutality against the demonstrators. Up to 200 people have died so far, including 23 children and young people, according to human rights organizations. Amnesty International said this approach underscores the "brutality" with which the authorities are attempting to suppress the protests in the country.

Amnesty said the children killed were 20 boys aged between 11 and 17 and three girls, two aged 16 and one aged 17. Most of the boys were shot dead by security forces, three girls and one boy died "after fatal beatings by security forces," the report said.