Renewed demonstrations broke out today (Sunday) in Iran in universities and the predominantly Kurdish northwest region, following protests that have been going on for seven weeks against the regime.
The protests, which began in mid-September following the death of Mehsa Amini after she was arrested for allegedly violating strict dress codes for women, have developed into the biggest challenge to the leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Unlike the protests in November 2019, they were nationwide, spread across social classes, in universities, on the streets and even in schools, and showed no sign of slowing even as the death toll topped 200, according to some human rights groups.
The death toll from the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on the protests is estimated at 304, including 41 children. However, some human rights organizations estimate that the real number is much higher. Thousands more were injured in the suppression of the protests.
Another rights group, Norway-based Hangau, said security forces opened fire today at a demonstration in Marivan, a town in Kurdistan province, injuring 35 people. The veracity of the information could not be immediately verified.
The latest protest was sparked by the death in Tehran of a Kurdish doctoral candidate from Marivan, Nasreen Ghadri, who Hangau said died on Saturday after being hit in the head by police. Iranian authorities have not yet commented on the cause of her death.
The Ngao said she was buried at dawn without a funeral ceremony at the insistence of the authorities who feared the event could become a focus of protest. Authorities then sent reinforcements to the area.
Kurdish-populated areas have been the crucible of protests since the death of Amini, herself a Kurd from the town of Saqez in the Kurdistan province.
Universities have also emerged as major centers of protest. Students at a university in Babol in northern Iran removed gender segregation barriers that had been legally erected in their cafeteria.
An estimated 118 more people have lost their lives in protests since September 30 in Sistan-Baluchistan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim province in the southeast, posing another major headache for the regime.
The IHR, another human rights group, said security forces killed at least 16 people with live bullets when protests erupted after Friday prayers in the town of Kash in Sistan-Baluchistan. Amnesty International said up to 10 people were killed in violence on Friday in Hash, accusing the security forces of shooting at protesters from rooftops.
The outbreak of the protest also delayed efforts to revive the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program and increased the focus on Tehran’s ties with Russia – notably its supply to Moscow of drones used in the Ukraine war.
The protests that began with outrage over the restrictive dress code for women, for which Amini was arrested, turned into a broad movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since the fall of the Shah.
Meanwhile, Sunnis in Sistan-Baluchistan – where the alleged rape of a girl in police custody sparked protests – have long felt discriminated against by the country’s Shiite leadership.
Human rights organizations estimate that around 14,000 people are being held and abused in Iran’s overcrowded prisons, including the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. These people also need to be recognized by name: the activists, musicians, children and students who were kidnapped from their homes, schools and residences – some of whom may now face the death penalty.
Germany and eight other European Union member states plan to impose a new set of sanctions on individuals and organizations that help the Islamic Republic suppress dissent.
Yesterday in #Khash city, the IR massacred 16 unarmed innocent people just for protesting. This brutality was so unbelievably horrible that the Khash hospital faced lack of blood. Pls BE OUR VOICE#MahsaAmini #IranRevolution #Mehsa_Amini pic.twitter.com/3KWgUJgOvF
— Amin Pouria (@mamadporii) November 5, 2022
1/Another day full of heroic epics in #IranRevolution; A child-murdering regime has threatened these people for 7 weeks. Tortured them in prisons. Killed them on the streets. Shot them in the face. Yet, look at this crowd that does not give up the fight, Karaj.#MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/zdzkXPqKYS
— Masih Alinejad ????️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 3, 2022
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