LONDON: Iranian school children were arrested on school premises on Sunday by security forces, the Guardian reported. 

Pictures of security forces arriving at schools in vans without license plates were shared on social media. 

According to the Guardian, Iranian Education Minister Mohammad Mahdi Kazem said that students involved in the protests had not been expelled, but their parents were being contacted.

Authorities also closed schools and higher education institutions in Iranian Kurdistan on Sunday, as demonstrations following the death of Mahsa Amini entered their fourth week. 

Hengaw, a Norway-based Iran human rights group, shared videos of girls chanting: “Woman, life, freedom,” at a school in Saqqez, Amini’s home town in Kurdistan province.

Other footage from cities across Iran shows hundreds of high school and university students confronting security forces armed with tear gas, clubs and, in many cases, live ammunition, the rights group said.

Iranian authorities denied that live rounds have been used, the Guardian reported. 

“At least 185 people, including at least 19 children, have been killed in the nationwide protests across Iran. The highest number of killings occurred in Sistan and Baluchistan province with half the recorded number,” Iran Human Rights said on Saturday.