Demonstrations that began on September 17 at the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in her Kurdish town of Saqez, have turned into the biggest challenges to Iran’s clerical leaders in years, with protesters calling for the downfall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.Denying use of live bullets, authorities have described the protests as a plot by Iran’s foes including the United States, accusing armed dissidents - among others - of violence in which at least 20 members of the security forces have been reported killed.Videos shared on social media showed protests continued in dozens of cities across Iran early Sunday with hundreds of high school girls and university students joining in despite the use of tear gas, clubs, and in many cases live ammunition by the security forces, according to rights groups.A video posted on Twitter by the widely followed activist 1500tasvir showed a man shouting “don’t hit my wife, she is pregnant,” while trying to protect her from a dozen riot police beating the couple in the city of Rafsanjan.Her father has held the police responsible for her death with the family lawyer saying “respectable doctors” believe she was beaten while in custody."