Protests in Iran continue amid crackdown

Paris, France (AFP):

Iranians living overseas as well as those who support their cause are gathering in cities all over the world in solidarity with protests sparked by the mysterious custodial death of Mahsa Amini who was being held for defying the country’s laws on women’s dress code in public.

A wave of street protests has rocked Iran since Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died days after her arrest by the police for allegedly failing to observe the requirements of covering in public as legislated by the state.

Protests were held across Iran for a 15th consecutive night on Friday, despite a bloody crackdown that a rights group says has claimed more than 80 lives.

“Woman, life, freedom” and “Death to the dictator”, they chanted in the streets of Amini’s hometown of Saqqez, in Kurdistan province.

Riot police were called in on Saturday at major intersections in Tehran, amid reports of demonstrations at universities to seek the release of arrested students.

The ‘1500tasvir’ social media channel shared video footage of large demonstrations in the capital, as well as the shrine city of Mashhad and Kermanshah in the west.

Demonstrations in support of the Iranian protests are being held meanwhile in 159 cities across the globe, according to the ‘Iranians for Justice and Human Rights’ group.

Arrest of foreigners 

The protests flared up in Iran on September 16, when Amini was pronounced dead three days after falling into a coma following her arrest.

Oslo-based ‘Iran Human Rights group’ claims that ‘at least 83’ people have been killed in the crackdown. Amnesty International says it has confirmed 52 fatalities, while Iran’s Fars news agency has put the death toll at “around 60”.

It is the bloodiest unrest in Iran since a ruthless crackdown on demonstrations in November 2019 over a sudden hike in fuel prices which killed at least 304 people.

Security forces used live ammunition and tear gas on Friday to try to disperse demonstrations in various cities and towns across the country.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister who has been under house arrest for more than a decade, urged security forces to halt the violence, in a message on the Instagram account of opposition group Kaleme.

“I would like to remind all the armed forces of their pledge to protect our land, Iran, and the lives, property, and rights of the people,” he said.

Iran’s intelligence ministry said “nine foreign nationals”, including from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, were arrested “at or behind the scene of riots”, along with 256 members of outlawed opposition groups.

Unrest also erupted on Friday in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said two of its colonels were killed, bringing the official toll to 20 dead during the clashes in the province. Three police stations were attacked.

Outside forces 

“Several chain stores were looted and set on fire, and a number of banks and government centres were also damaged,” said Sistan-Baluchestan governor Hossein Khiabani.

Poverty-stricken Sistan-Baluchestan is a flashpoint for clashes with drug smuggling gangs, as well as rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni Muslim militant groups.

Iran has blamed “outside forces” for the nationwide protests.

On September 28, the Revolutionary Guards launched cross-border missile and drone strikes that killed 14 people in autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.

The US said one of its citizens was killed in the strikes.

Fifty-four countries have signed a statement “urging Iran to stop using force against peaceful protesters”, the US special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, tweeted.

Several journalists, activists and other prominent figures are already under arrest since the protests started.