Women around the world - some high-profile such as actress Juliette Binoche - have been showing their support for the protesters by cutting their hair.

The act is being seen as a sign of support for Iranian women and girls as well as of protest and rebellion against the Iranian regime, following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Women in Iran and all over the world have also been burning headscarves, shouting “Women, life, freedom” and “No to the headscarf, no to the turban, yes to freedom and equality”.

Kayvan Hosseini
BBC Persian journalist

Since the first day of protests in Iran, restrictions on access to the internet in Iran have increased. According to observatory groups such as NetBlocks, some days, mobile internet was completely shut down.

In addition to using the internet to access uncensored news, protesters use online tools to send their videos of protests to media outlets outside the country.

The government also blocked Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the most popular platforms people use for communication and spreading information.

Even before the current restrictions, the internet in Iran was not free. The government blocks all media organisations' websites that are not editorially controlled by the state.

Also, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook were blocked during the 2008 opposition Green Movement protests, and despite promises from some government officials, the restrictions became permanent.

Activists say they are afraid the same pattern will happen again, and that new restrictions such as banning WhatsApp and Instagram will remain forever.

Raffi Berg
BBC Online Middle East editor

Footage has emerged from Iran's western Kurdistan province appearing to show a white pick-up truck with a gun on the back shooting at people while they flee.

Loud bangs are heard as people run, with the truck in pursuit. The clip has been verified by the BBC's Persian service.

It happened in the city of Baneh on Thursday night. Kurdistan has seen a harsh crackdown by Iranian security forces since protests erupted following the death in Tehran of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini last month.

Although authorities have blocked some social media services and disrupted the internet, Iranians have still managed to post videos giving a picture of what is happening inside the country.

The BBC and other independent media are barred from reporting from Iran, which has accused foreign journalists of spreading false information against it.

Iran has entered a new chapterpublished at 10:20 British Summer Time 14 October 2022

10:20 BST 14 October 2022

Rana Rahimpour
BBC Persian

With the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini four weeks ago, Iran entered a new chapter. A chapter of protests, strikes and activism.

For the first time in over a decade, many Iranians inside and outside the country have joined forces to voice their quest for freedom.

To many observers' surprise, despite the violent crackdown of the protests, death of more than 200 people and the arrest of thousands of people, the protests have continued and they have turned into what some observers are calling an uprising.

Foreign and independent journalists are not allowed inside the country, which makes reporting the events ever more difficult.

But the videos that are being published of dozens of towns and cities show that this is now one of the most serious threats against the existence of the Islamic Republic.

Many witnesses say security forces seem tired. Some analysts say that if the protests continue with the same intensity, it will get more and more difficult for the government to suppress them.

The BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet and BBC Persian reporters will be answering your questions today on the situation in Iran and the protests taking place there.

This is your chance to ask us anything to help you make sense of the events – and no question is a silly question.

Send in any questions you have at the top of the page and we'll answer as many as we can.

You can also get in touch in the following ways:

• Email: yourquestions@bbc.co.uk
• WhatsApp: +44 7756 165803
• Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay, external
• Please read our terms & conditions and privacy policy

In some cases a selection of your comments and questions will be published, displaying your name and location as you provide it unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published.

The protests that have been taking place for weeks across Iran began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

She was detained by police in September for allegedly failing to comply with the strict dress code on head coverings, which are compulsory in Iran.

Authorities say Mahsa Amini died from underlying health reasons - but her family and countless other Iranians believe she died as a result of having been beaten.

Following her funeral, held in her hometown of Saqqez, in the western province of Kurdistan, protests erupted.

Women chanted “woman, life, freedom” and “death to the dictator” while waving - and in some cases burning - their headscarves.

Similar demonstrations were staged elsewhere in the Kurdish-populated north-west and in the capital, Tehran, before the unrest reached dozens of other cities and evolved into the most serious challenge to the establishment in years.

Despite a crackdown by security force, there is no sign yet that protests are abating.

Iranian female activist Laleh Maghonaki left Iran for Sweden many years ago after speaking out about women's rights there.

Now living in the city of Uppsala, near Stockholm, she says she is struggling to sleep and is worried about loved ones back home, finding it difficult to stay in touch.

"The internet is cut whenever something happens," she tells the BBC.

"When I talk to my sister, and my niece and nephew, I have to gesticulate sometimes or silently mouth words to try to understand the situation there. I worry that calls are monitored or authorities are eavesdropping."

Now leading demonstrations in Uppsala against the violent reaction to protests in Iran, Laleh says she feels a responsibility to "be the voice" of her sisters and brothers back home.

"This is the worst situation I have known for the people of Iran since [the revolution of] 1979," she says, but adds that the generation protesting now are "very brave and very well educated”.

"More than 60% of [university students] are now women. Education is the only way to be free."

Laleh says she will be arrested if she returns to Iran and was unable to attend her mother's funeral there.

But she is hopeful the tide may turn and real change may come.

“This younger generation might actually make a difference - they are starting a new revolution."

Sweden is the top European destination for Iranians looking to resettle, according to Eurostat, making up a population of more than 80,000.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

On 13 September, Mahsa Amini, 22, was standing by a motorway in the Iranian capital, Tehran, with her brother Kiarash when she was stopped and arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab, or headscarf, improperly.

Kiarash later said he was told his sister would be released after an hour of "education class".

Two days after the arrest, Iranian police reported Amini’s name for the first time, saying she had fallen ill due to "heart problems" that came on"suddenly” in a morality police office.

Police said she had been "immediately" transferred to hospital. Amini’s family said doctors told them her heart was beating but her "brain was not conscious anymore".

The next day, she was pronounced dead.

Her family said she was a healthy young woman with no medical conditions that would explain a sudden heart problem.

Soon, reports emerged claiming she had been beaten on the head while inside a police van after being picked up in Tehran.

Police have repeatedly denied the allegations.

Her death came in the wake of a series of reports of brutality against women by authorities in Iran.

• Fury as woman dies after Iran morality police arrest

The BBC is presenting a special day of coverage as events unfold, on TV, radio and online, including expert analysis from correspondents, guests and the BBC Persian newsroom.

Here's how to follow what is happening today:

Online:

For the latest on the protests, follow our live coverage on the BBC website.

We'll be answering your questions about the protests live, monitoring the latest social media and bringing you the human stories behind some of the victims of the violence.

From 11:00 GMT (12:00 BST), you can listen to a Global News Podcast special here and on other podcast sites.

TV:

At 15:00 GMT (16:00 BST), tune into our hour-long Iran Special programme on BBC World News and the News Channel (in the UK).

Radio:

Also at 15:00 GMT (16:00 BST), join an Outside Source Iran special, presented by James Reynolds, on BBC World Service.

You can follow all of our coverage until 18:00 GMT.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in Iran.

The country is witnessing the largest anti-government protests for years.

Thousands have taken to the streets following the death of a young Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody nearly a month ago.

The protests are seen as a major threat to the regime, which has responded with force.

We'll be providing the latest updates as events unfold in Iran.

Our live coverage will include the voices of those taking to the streets, real-time verified videos and essential background.

Stick with us for the latest.