IRANIAN authorities have escalated their crackdown on women’s rights activists, journalists, singers and other campaigners, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The rights group warned that authorities are using arbitrary detention, unjust prosecution, flogging and even the death penalty in a bid to quash Iran’s women’s rights movement, with at least five activists held since International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8.

These arrests come amid an intensified crackdown including interrogating activists and journalists, arresting women singers for performing without the mandatory hijab and shutting down their social media accounts.