A Hotel Set on Fire During Protests in Mahabad

Reports and images indicate that the city of Mahabad in West Azerbaijan province witnessed unrest on Thursday, during which a hotel was set on fire amid clashes between protesters and riot police. Previously, several local websites and news pages on social media, such as Facebook, claimed that a young girl named Parinaz Khosravani, a hostess at Tara Hotel, jumped out of a window to prevent a security officer from assaulting her and died. These reports stated that the security officer had asked the manager of Tara Hotel to create such a situation for him in exchange for assisting in upgrading the hotel to a five-star establishment. Radio Farda currently cannot confirm this news, but its widespread dissemination on social media has sparked outrage among many users and led to protests in Mahabad. Azad Mohammad, a journalist based in Erbil, Iraq, reported to Radio Farda that 'at 2 PM local time, people protesting the death of Ms. Khosravani gathered in front of Tara Hotel to express their grievances about the nature of her death, which led to clashes with special forces already stationed outside the hotel.' He added, 'These clashes continued until the entire Tara Hotel was burned down and resulted in gunfire directed at the people.' Mr. Azad Mohammad stated that '10 people were injured in the gunfire, and according to unconfirmed reports, two people were also killed during these protests.' Meanwhile, the Iranian state news agency published a report hours after the protests in Mahabad, stating that 'protesters at this gathering demanded the swift punishment of the individual responsible for the death of this young girl, who had fallen from one of the hotel floors under suspicious circumstances two days prior.' IRNA reported that 'local officials in Mahabad had previously announced that the potential perpetrator had been arrested and would be severely punished if found guilty.' However, the agency emphasized that 'police investigations have not yet reached a conclusion, and the cause of this incident has not been officially announced.' Mahabad is considered a cultural and political center for the Kurdish minority in Iran and has historically witnessed numerous political protests.