Mahsa Amini’s cousin has said that the family are receiving death threats and mysterious phone calls pressuring them not to join the ongoing protests gripping Iran.

Efram Mortezaei confirmed the threats that Mahsa’s family has been receiving since her death, in an interview with the independent Iranian media outlet Iranwire, saying the family had been receiving threats.

He said in a separate interview: “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.”

He reportedly added: “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.”

And he also reportedly said: “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.”

Mahsa – who hailed from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province – was on a visit to Tehran when she was arrested by morality police for violating hijab rules on 13th September.

She was allegedly beaten while in custody and spent the following days in a coma in the hospital before succumbing in the ICU on 16th September.

The clinic where she was treated said in a now-deleted social media post that she had been admitted brain-dead.

Alleged medical scans of her skull leaked by hackers showed that she had suffered bone fractures, haemorrhages, and brain oedema.

Anti-regime media are claiming that Mahsa’s medical records showing her history of heart disease were faked by the Iranian government.

The protests her death sparked are ongoing and, according to the non-profit Iran Human Rights, at least 185 people, including children, have been killed so far.