Los Angeles names intersection in memory of woman who sparked Iran protests

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to name a street intersection in memory of Mahsa Amini, whose death in the custody of the morality police in Iran nearly a year ago sparked months of nationwide protests there.

Los Angeles, the second most populous U.S. city, is home to an Iranian community of nearly 138,000 people, of the 400,000-620,000 people of Iranian ancestry in the United States, according to the University of California, Los Angeles.

The intersection of Westwood Boulevard and Rochester Avenue- in an area home to Persian businesses- will be renamed Women Life Freedom Square in Amini’s memory, according to a record of the City Council vote on its website.

The months-long anti-government protests that followed Amini’s death spiraled into the biggest show of opposition to Iran’s authorities in years.

The United States and Iran have clashed on human rights, Tehran’s nuclear program and its support for regional Shi’ite militias, but a deal announced on Monday allowing five Iranian Americans to leave Iran removes a major irritant.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Leslie Adler)