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Born in the city of Zanjan in northern Iran in 1972 into a family from Iran’s Azeri ethnic minority, Mohammadi began her activism while a student studying physics at a university in nearby Qazvin.

Security forces meanwhile attacked the family of Javad Heydari on Thursday - a day before the anniversary of the 39-year-old's death at a protest in the northern city of Qazvin.

When Ms. Mohammadi entered college in the city of Qazvin to study nuclear physics, she looked to join women’s student groups, but none existed.

Ms Riahi, one of the first actresses to remove her hijab in support of the protests, was reportedly arrested near the northern city of Qazvin on 20 November and released on bail a week later.

Footage posted on social media showed small protests took place on Thursday night in several parts of the capital, Tehran, as well as in nearby Karaj, the eastern city of Mashhad, the central city of Isfahan, the northern cities of Qazvin and Rasht, and the western cities of Arak, Izeh and Sanandaj.