Iran's Mahsa Amini's family receiving death threats, says her cousin

  Mahsa Amini's family claims they have received death threats and have been advised not to participate in the rallies following her murder in police custody three weeks ago, which prompted unrest across Iran. Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Kurdish woman whose death ignited the unrest.

Mahsa became a symbol of Iranian repression after her arrest by the morality police, who accused her of wearing her hijab improperly. Her face, and her story, are now known around the world. 

"Our family have been under immense pressure from the Islamic Republic's officials, so we don't talk to human rights organisations or channels outside of Iran and inform anyone from the outside world about her passing," her cousin Erfan Mortezai told a BBC correspondent when they met across the border in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Erfan is a Peshmerga fighter for Komala, an exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition party based in Iraq. For years, since long before Mahsa's death, he has been trying to bring down the Islamic Republic. The Iranian government have blamed the latest unrest on such outside influences. 

Her [Mahsa] cousin uses her Kurdish given name during the conversation – Zhina – the one her friends and family called her every day.

Mahsa is her official Iranian name, which her parents were forced to use on documentation because certain Kurdish names are banned in Iran. 

"Zhina was a normal person, she was not political," Erfan insists. "The regime have been making up scenarios and disinformation – saying that Zhina was in contact with me and I taught her and sent her back to Iran to do a certain activity, when in fact this is completely baseless."

He says the threats that his family members have received have made them question their safety, BBC has reported.

"They are under Islamic Republic torture," he said, adding "The regime's officials have threatened us through Instagram with fake accounts, and told the family members in Iran that if they get involved in the protests, they might be killed." 

"Myself, I have been receiving many threats over the phone, [saying] that if they see me in the city, they will kidnap me and kill me."

Erfan shared previously unseen videos and they reveal a heartbreaking contrast. 

The first is of Mahsa dancing at a wedding, waving colourful shawls and glancing shyly up at the camera. 

The second shows her family gathered at a cemetery, marking what should have been her 23rd birthday. A cake decorated with her face has been carefully placed on her grave. There is angry shouting and many tears.

There have been demonstrations in Iran before, but the regime has always stood firm, Erfan further said. "That is why it is so hard to predict what will happen next."

As the latest protests reach new cities, Mahsa's cousin Erfan believes the momentum could have a lasting effect. 

"We shouldn't forget the people of Iran have been in resistance and protest against the regime for many years, but the people now are revolutionaries," he says. 

"They are women, workers, teachers, sportspeople, artists, taking to the streets and mixing their voices of dissent with that of Zhina's family. In my opinion, these protests will continue and it will end with the fall of the Islamic Republic."