Putting Kurds in spotlight, Iran's leaders try to deflect national protest

FILE PHOTO: A demonstrator cups their hand around a lit candle at a protest following the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, outside the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 22, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo

DUBAI (Reuters) -Facing their biggest challenge in years, Iran's religious leaders are trying to portray the angry protests over the death of Mahsa Amini as a breakaway uprising by her fellow Kurds threatening the nation's unity rather than its clerical rule.

Amini, a 22-year-old from Kurdistan province in northwest Iran, died in the custody of the Islamic Republic's morality police after she was detained for violating strict codes requiring women to dress modestly in public.