TEHERAN - Three people have been killed during protests in Iran’s Kurdistan province over the death of a young woman after she was arrested by “morality police”, the region’s governor said on Tuesday.

“The three were killed suspiciously” as part of “a plot by the enemy”, the governor, Mr Ismail Zarei Koosha, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency, without specifying when the fatalities occurred.

An Iranian lawmaker made a rare stand on Tuesday to criticise the controversial "morality police", following protests over the death of a young woman they had arrested, local media reported.

Public anger has grown since the authorities on Friday announced the death of Ms Mahsa Amini, following her arrest by the police unit responsible for enforcing Iran's strict dress code for women, including the wearing of the headscarf in public.

The 22-year-old died in hospital after three days in a coma.

Her death comes amid growing controversy both inside and outside Iran over the conduct of the morality police, known formally as the Gasht-e Ershad, or "Guidance Patrol".

Mr Jalal Rashidi Koochi, a Member of Parliament, told the Isna news agency that "Gasht-e Ershad is wrong because it has had no result except loss and damage for the country", adding that "the main problem is that some people resist accepting the truth". Mr Koochi questioned if the current policy of enforcing those breaking dress regulations was effective.

"Do the people who are taken to these explanatory classes by the Guidance Patrol become conscious and repent when they come out?" Mr Koochi said, according to Isna.

On Sunday, police made arrests and fired tear gas in the dead woman's home province of Kurdistan, where some 500 people had protested, some smashing car windows and torching rubbish bins, reports said.

On Monday, demonstrations were held in Teheran, including in several universities, and Iran's second-most populous city Mashhad, according to the Fars and Tasnim news agencies.

Protesters in Teheran were dispersed by "police using batons and tear gas", according to Fars news agency.

"Several hundred people chanted slogans against the authorities, some of them took off their hijab (headscarves)," Fars added.

Teheran Governor Mohsen Mansouri on Tuesday said the protests in the capital were "fully organised with the agenda to create unrest", in a post on Twitter.

"Burning the flag, pouring fuel on the roads, throwing stones, attacking the police, setting fire to motorcycles and garbage cans, destroying public property... is not the work of ordinary people," he said.

State news agency Irna reported protests on Monday in other provinces of the country including Kermanshah in the west, Gilan in the north, Razavi Khorasan in north-east and Yazd in the centre. AFP