PARIS, Sept 26 — Iranians took to the streets for a tenth consecutive night Sunday, defying a warning from the judiciary, to protest the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.
At least 41 people have died since the unrest began, mostly protesters but including members of the Islamic republic’s security forces, according to an official toll, although other sources say the real figure is higher
Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) on Sunday evening said the death toll was at least 57, but noted that ongoing internet blackouts were making it increasingly difficult to confirm fatalities in a context where the women-led protests have spread to scores of cities.
Echoing an earlier warning by President Ebrahim Raisi, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Sunday “emphasised the need for decisive action without leniency” against the core instigators of the “riots”, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.
Hundreds of demonstrators, reformist activists and journalists have been arrested amid the mostly night-time demonstrations since unrest first broke out after Amini’s death on September 16.
Amini, whose Kurdish first name was Jhina, was detained three days before that for allegedly breaching rules mandating tightly-fitted hijab head coverings and which ban, among other things, ripped jeans and brightly coloured clothes.
Images circulated by IHR showed protesters on the streets of Tehran, shouting “death to the dictator”, purportedly after nightfall on Sunday.
Witnesses told AFP that protests were ongoing in several locations. Video footage showed demonstrations in Tabriz and Shiraz, among other places, with women removing their headscarves and protesters shouting against the authorities.
‘Rolling blackouts’
Iran’s largest protests in almost three years have seen security forces fire live rounds and bird shot, rights groups charge, while protesters have hurled rocks, torched police cars and set ablaze state buildings.
Some women protesters have burnt their hijabs in the rallies and cut off their hair, some dancing near large bonfires to the applause of crowds that have chanted “zan, zendegi, azadi” or “woman, life, freedom”.
Video of demonstrations on Saturday, verified by AFP, showed students ripping down a picture of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside a university in the northern province of Mazandaran.
Web monitor NetBlocks noted “rolling blackouts” and “widespread internet platform restrictions” on Sunday, with WhatsApp, Instagram and Skype having already been blocked.
This followed older bans on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram.
Protests abroad have been held in solidarity with Iranian women in Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul, Madrid, New York and Paris, among other cities.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell deplored the security forces’ response to the unrest as “disproportionate... unjustifiable and unacceptable”.
Iran, which has been hit with tough economic sanctions over its nuclear programme, has blamed “foreign plots” for the unrest.
Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday it had summoned Britain’s ambassador over what it described as an “invitation to riots” by Farsi-speaking media based in London, and Norway’s envoy over “unconstructive comments” made by his country’s parliament speaker.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticised “the US interventionist approach in the affairs of Iran... including its provocative actions in supporting the rioters”.
Pro-government rally
Iran has also organised large rallies in defence of the hijab and conservative values.
Pro-government rallies were held Sunday, with the main event taking place in Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran, where demonstrators voiced support for mandatory hijab laws.
“Martyrs died so that this hijab will be on our head,” said demonstrator Nafiseh, 28, adding that she was opposed to making the wearing of the hijab voluntary.
Another demonstrator, 21-year-old student Atyieh, called for “strong action against the people who are leading” the protests.
The main reformist group inside Iran, the Union of Islamic Iran People’s Party, however, has called for the repeal of the mandatory dress code.
IHR reported on Sunday that an umbrella of Iranian teachers’ unions were calling on teachers and students to boycott classes on Monday and Wednesday in support of the protests.
Iranian authorities have yet to state the cause of death of Amini, who activists say died as a result of a blow to the head.
Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi has said Amini was not beaten and that “we must wait for the final opinion of the medical examiner”. — AFP
Thousands take part in anti-government protests in Iran | WNT
Ahmed Vahdat
September 26 2022
Iran has recruited extremist foreign militias to clamp down on growing demonstrations in cities across the country, it emerged yesterday.
Militias from Syria, Lebanon and Iraq calling themselves “the volunteers from Islamic lands” announced in a social media post online that they were joining the Tehran regime’s clampdown on public dissent.
As demonstrators continued to protest against the fate of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for incorrectly wearing a hijab, the militia group said it was “spontaneously formed” and its members are “willing to give their lives to Ayatollah Khamenei”.
Its members are followers of Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force who was killed by a US drone attack in January last year.
Iranian opposition groups have identified them as radical Shia militias that take their orders directly from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Iran’s foreign ministry yesterday summoned the British ambassador to complain about “the presence of media outlets in London that instigate riot and destruction in Iran”. BBC Persian, ManoTo and Iran International TV operate from London and have covered Iran’s protests through their satellite channels.
Also yesterday, hundreds of British Iranians gathered at Iran’s embassy in London to support the protests and call on the British government to sever diplomatic ties with Tehran. There were clashes with police during the demonstration and at least one person was arrested.
Protests continued across Iranian cities yesterday with public figures increasingly siding with the protesters and condemning the regime’s heavy-handed response, which has led to at least 80 deaths, according to unconfirmed reports.
Demonstrations also took place around the world, including in Glasgow where a large group carried signs which read “Hijab murder” and “no to Islamic Republic of Iran”. Women were seen shaving their heads as part of the protest.
In a video message from Zurich, where he is president of the international competition jury at the city’s film festival, Oscar-winning director Asghar Farhadi invited artists all around the world to demonstrate their solidarity with the Iranian people “during these challenging times”.
“This society, especially these women, has travelled a harsh and painful path to this point, and now they have clearly reached a landmark,” he said.
Internet and phone lines have been cut off in Ms Amini’s home province of Kurdistan. In the Kurdish town of Oshnaviyeh, protesters drove the local Revolutionary Guards out of their barracks and seized bases used by the Basij militias, who act as the regime’s foot soldiers.
Meanwhile, Iranian lawyers have called on the United Nations to hold a referendum on the governance of the country.
“In the previous historic cases of free elections in Chile and South Africa, where the UN acted in accordance with its charter to uphold peace and security of the world, the outcome led to change of regimes in a peaceful way,” Saeid Dehghan, a member of the International Association of Lawyers, said.
“There is no reason why the same cannot be applied to Iran’s situation, where a repressive regime is rejected by millions of its citizens,” he added.
Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Mass protests in Iran over death of Mahsa
Amini may assume dimensions of social
uprising
By John SolomouNicosia [Cyprus],
September 26 (ANI): For more than a week, mass protests are being held in more than 80 towns and cities across the 31 provinces of Iran over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman called Mahsa Amini, who died shortly after she was arrested by the hated morality police of the Theocratic regime. At least 41 people, including members of the security forces, were so far killed in clashes between protesters and anti-riot police and militia in escalating street violence which may rapidly assume the dimensions of a social uprising.
Mahsa Amini was arrested on September 13 as she was leaving a Tehran metro station with her brother and other relatives. She was arrested along with other women whose clothes did not comply with state regulations and taken away in a morality police van. Mahsa was in a coma for three days, then died "of natural causes," as the authorities claim, but according to activists, the cause of her death was a fatal blow to the head.
The incident unleashed huge anger among ordinary Iranians, who find it extremely difficult to make ends meet, living under international sanctions, without seeing any visible sign of improvement in the economy of the country, which is badly mismanaged. Many Iranians realize that they have less and less to lose and feel strongly repressed by the strict rules imposed by the Iranian regime.
Women in Iran are even more repressed as they must obey a strict dress code or risk being arrested and ill-treated by the morality police, known as Gasht-e Ershad, which means Islamic Guidance Patrol.
The regulations mandate that women cover their hair, usually with a headscarf known as a hijab, and wear clothing that is loose-fitting and does not expose their chests. To enter some mosques, women are required to wear chadors - a large piece of cloth that leaves only the face or the eyes visible.
Once more, following the death of Mahsa, women in Iran are at the forefront of the current protests, as they did back in 2009 during the Green Movement protests that demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office when hundreds were arrested and many died, and the brutally suppressed protests in November 2019 when the government ordered a 50 per cent increase in the subsidized price of gasoline. It is estimated that more than 1500 people were killed during the gasoline protests.
After Mahsa Amina's death, some women publicly cut their hair and burned their headscarves, in defiance of the Iranian authorities. Immediately, Mahsa became a symbol of the protest movement.
The incident has triggered angry protests not only by women but also by hundreds of thousands of men who had a woman relative insulted or mistreated by the morality police and who want to express their resentment for the repressive policies of the Iranian state.
Initially protests concentrated in Iran's Kurdish populated regions, which have declared a general strike, but later spread like a wildfire to more than 80 cities and towns.
Ebrahim Raisi, the Iranian President, has promised a thorough investigation to be carried out into Mahsa's death. While blaming conspirators for inciting unrest, he called the events "a riot." Raisi pledged to crack down on "those who oppose the country's security and tranquillity" and said it was necessary to distinguish between protest and disturbing public order and security.
According to Iranian state-backed news agency Tasmin, at least 1,200 people have been arrested.
In southern Iran, protesters burned a huge portrait of General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in January 2020 by a US strike in Iraq. In Tehran and many other towns, protesters set fire to police stations and police cars and chanted anti-regime slogans, Irna news agency reported.
Protesters express their deep resentment and anger that has been building over the years and they clash with the police and paramilitary groups sent to dispel them, torching police stations and shouting slogans against the "dictator", meaning Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Yalda Zarbakch, Head of Deutsche Welle Persian Service says: "Demonstrators are tearing down posters of the revolutionary leaders Khamenei and Khomeini, burning them, and loudly demanding the fall of the entire political system. More and more people have turned their backs on the regime, its ideology and even Islam as a whole. And this is now true even of people from more traditional classes of society."Last Thursday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) called on the judiciary to prosecute people who are circulating "false news and rumours."Trying to prevent protestors from gathering and stop images of the protests from reaching the outside world, the Iranian regime has imposed tough restrictions on the use of the internet and access to Instagram and WhatsApp, according to residents and internet watchdog NetBlocks. On Saturday one of the biggest mobile phone operators disrupted its service.
SpaceX and Starlink owner Elon Musk said he would seek an exemption from sanctions to offer his company's Starlink satellite service, which has a network of 2200 satellites in orbit, to Iranian people.
The US administration immediately responded by announcing that it was easing the relevant export restrictions. Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State said that Starlink will "help counter the Iranian government's efforts to surveil and censor its citizens" and pointedly added: " It is clear that the Iranian government is afraid of its own people."Iran's Theocracy is currently faced with a huge dilemma: Either relax the strict hijab rules that are a distinguishing feature of the Islamic Republic, calming in this way popular anger against it- but risking more protests demanding a change in the regime- or continue its relentless crackdown on dissent, increasing further popular anger- risking eventually a big social uprising that could bring about its final downfall. (ANI)
Protesters take to Iran’s streets for 10th night but situation obscure as regime takes country offline
Establishing the latest situation in Iran, a country on September 25 torn by violent unrest for a tenth straight night, has become a formidable task for foreign media. Most communication with the country is restricted to telephone calls, given the government’s decision to largely take Iranians offline to disrupt those who want to topple the regime. There is little reporting from the ground.
Whether the authorities have substantially stepped up their attempts to put down the protests is not even clear to many at different ends of the country. President Ebrahim Raisi on September 25 pledged to crack down on “those who oppose the country’s security and tranquility”. The protesters, he said, would be dealt with “decisively”. The head of Iran's powerful judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, earlier in the day was reported by the judiciary's official Mizan Online media channel as emphasising "the need for decisive action without leniency" against the primary instigators of what he described as "riots".
Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, called Iran's crackdown "unjustifiable" and "unacceptable."
The authorities are referring to around 40 people killed during clashes between protesters and security forces, including five security personnel. But activists say the death toll is at least 50 and likely to be even higher. Many hundreds have been arrested.
Demonstrations have spread to most of Iran’s 31 provinces and almost all urban centres. The weekend saw demonstrators rally in support of the protesters in Iran in countries including Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Turkey, the UK, Canada and the United States.
The protests in the theocratic state began as a reaction to the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, an ethnic Kurd who fell into a coma and died after an encounter with Tehran morality police who were enforcing laws on the wearing of the hijab head covering and other legally decreed attire by women. Witnesses have claimed Amini was beaten. Officials have denied that was the case but have promised a probe into the events that led up to her death. The cause of death would be established by a medical examiner, they said.
Observers have started referring to the demonstrations as the biggest challenge to the regime since the anti-government protest in 2009, known as the green revolution, which followed contentious presidential elections.
“The main difference between the current protest compared to the green movement in 2009 is that now people are fighting back; they are not afraid of the brutal regime,” Sima Sabet, an Iranian journalist and presenter on the Iran International TV station, told the Guardian.
“Demonstrators are now burning ambulances because the government is using ambulances to move their security forces not to rescue people. The protesters are now using different tactics; they move between all cities and make it hard for security forces to control all locations,” Sabet added, also noting: “They have tactics about how to send their videos outside of Iran despite the cut-off of the internet… [and] for the first time now in Iran women are burning their hijabs with the support of men.”
Meir Javedanfar, who teaches Iranian politics at Reichman University in Israel, was quoted by Reuters as describing the protests as a milestone for Iranians angered by "a corrupt and incompetent regime". "These protests will not be the last. We will see more. But we are unlikely to see a revolution until and unless there is a leader and at least part of Iran's armed forces starts siding with the people against the regime. None of this has happened yet," he said.
One tactic used by the state against the protesters is the organising of counter-demonstrations. Such events, in which some sections of crowds called for the execution of “conspirators” behind the unrest, took place in several Iranian cities on September 23.
Sources described to the BBC how in parts of at least one small city, Oshnavieh, in northwest Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, government forces fled after losing effective control. They were said to have retreated to the outskirts before returning and regaining control.
State media denied the claims, saying protesters had stormed three outposts of the Basij Organisation, a paramilitary associated with the government's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In terms of the level of the security forces’ response to the protests, Amnesty International has warned that evidence it gathered indicated "a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters". Government forces, it alleged, shot 19 people dead—including three children—on the night of September 21 alone.
US-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists said 11 journalists have been detained in Iran in the past week.
Radio Farda reported that on September 25 in Tehran, students gathered at Tehran University to chant slogans including "Freedom, freedom, freedom!" and "We will fight, we will die, we will take back Iran!"
On September 23, the US announced that it was easing export restrictions on Iran to expand access to internet services. The Treasury said in a statement that it intended to increase support for internet freedom in Iran by updating a general licence allowing access to certain services, software and hardware.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk responded to the US announcement by saying that he would activate the firm's satellite internet service, Starlink, to cover Iran.
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