Assassination bid on Mahsa Amini's father thwarted - media

An assassination attempt on the father of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who died in police custody in Tehran last year, was foiled by security forces on Saturday, state media said.

Several members of a "terrorist group" who attempted to assassinate Amjad Amini have been arrested, the state-run IRNA news agency reported, citing Deputy Governor of Kordestan Mahdi Ramezani.

They tried to assassinate Amini while he was on his way to Aychi cemetery in Saqez city in northwestern Kordestan province, where his daughter is buried, the report said.

Saturday marked the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died in police custody on Sept. 16 last year, sparking nationwide protests.

Hundreds of people were killed and thousands of others were jailed during the country's violent unrest that brought life to a grinding halt.

Ahead of the first anniversary on Saturday, security was beefed up in Tehran and other major cities across the country, including Amini's hometown Sanandej.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian security forces arrested a group of "counter-revolutionaries" who had entered the country from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and planned to "foment chaos," state media said.

Some reports said members of the group "planned to carry out shootings" at public gatherings in Kordestan on Amini's death anniversary.

On Saturday, there were also unconfirmed reports of Amini's father being briefly detained in his hometown of Kordestan.