Security forces tear gas students defying Iran protest ultimatum
This image grab from a UGC video posted on October 29, 2022, reportedly shows security forces firing at buildings of the Kurdistan University Faculty of Medical Sciences in Sanandaj, the main city of Iran's Kurdistan province. (AFP)
Reuters
Published: 30 October ,2022
Protests in Iran entered a more violent phase on Sunday as students, who defied an ultimatum by the Revolutionary Guards and a warning from the president, were met with tear gas and gunfire from security forces, social media videos showed.
The confrontations at dozens of universities prompted the threat of a tougher crackdown in a seventh week of demonstrations sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the morality police for attire deemed inappropriate.
“Security is the red line of the Islamic Republic, and we will not allow the enemy to implement in any way its plans to undermine this valuable national asset,” hardline President Ebrahim Raisi said, according to state media.
Iranians from all walks of life have taken to the streets since Amini's death in protests that the clerical rulers said were endangering the Islamic Republic's security.
Authorities have accused Islamic Iran's arch-enemies the United States and Israel and their local agents of being behind the unrest to destabilize the country.
What began as outrage over Amini's death on Sept. 16 has evolved into one of the toughest challenges to clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution, with some protesters calling for the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards told protesters that Saturday would be their last day of taking to the streets, the harshest warning yet by Iranian authorities.
Nevertheless, videos on social media, unverifiable by Reuters, showed confrontations between students and riot police and Basij forces on Sunday at universities all over Iran.
One video showed a member of Basij forces firing a gun at close range at students protesting at a branch of Azad University in Tehran. Gunshots were also heard in a video shared by rights group HENGAW from protests at the University of Kurdistan in Sanandaj.
Videos from universities in some other cities also showed Basij forces opening fire at students.
Across the country, security forces tried to block students inside university buildings, firing tear gas and beating protesters with sticks. The students, who appeared to be unarmed, pushed back, with some chanting “dishonoured Basij get lost” and “Death to Khamenei”.
History of crackdowns
Social media reported arrests of at least a dozen doctors, journalists and artists since Saturday. The activist HRANA news agency said 283 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Saturday including 44 minors. Some 34 members of the security forces were also killed.
More than 14,000 people have been arrested, including 253 students, in protests in 132 cities and towns, and 122 universities, it said.
The Guards and its affiliated Basij force have crushed dissent in the past. They said on Sunday, “seditionists” were insulting them at universities and in the streets, and warned they may use more force if the anti-government unrest continued.
“So far, Basijis have shown restraint and they have been patient,” the head of the Revolutionary Guards in the Khorasan Junubi province, Brigadier General Mohammadreza Mahdavi, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
“But it will get out of our control if the situation continues.”
Journalists appeal
More than 300 Iranian journalists demanded the release of two colleagues jailed for their coverage of Amini in a statement published by the Iranian Etemad and other newspapers on Sunday.
Niloofar Hamedi took a photo of Amini's parents hugging each other in a Tehran hospital where their daughter was lying in a coma.
The image, which Hamedi posted on Twitter, was the first signal to the world that all was not well with Amini, who had been detained three days earlier by Iran's morality police for what they deemed inappropriate dress.
Elaheh Mohammadi covered Amini's funeral in her Kurdish hometown Saqez, where the protests began. A joint statement released by Iran’s intelligence ministry and the intelligence organisation of the Revolutionary Guards on Friday had accused Hamedi and Mohammadi of being CIA foreign agents.
Students and women have played a prominent role in the unrest, burning their veils as crowds call for the fall of the Islamic Republic, which came to power in 1979.
An official said on Sunday the establishment had no plan to retreat from compulsory veiling but should be “wise” about enforcement.
“Removing the veil is against our law and this headquarters will not retreat from its position,” Ali Khanmohammadi, the spokesman of Iran’s headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice told the Khabaronline website.
“However, our actions should be wise to avoid giving enemies a pretext to use it against us.”
In a further apparent effort to defuse the situation, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said people were right to call for reform and their demands would be met if they distanced themselves from the “criminals” taking to the streets.
“We consider the protests to be not only correct and the cause of progress, but we also believe that these social movements will change policies and decisions, provided that they are separated from violent people, criminals and separatists,” he said, using terms officials typically use for the protesters.
Read more:
Demonstrators in Iran’s Zahedan chant ‘death to Khamenei’ as protests persist
Iran charges 300 in Tehran protests, four could face death penalty
Two killed after police open fire at demonstrators in Iran’s Zahedan: Activists
Reuters
Published: 30 October ,2022
Protests in Iran entered a more violent phase on Sunday as students, who defied an ultimatum by the Revolutionary Guards and a warning from the president, were met with tear gas and gunfire from security forces, social media videos showed.
The confrontations at dozens of universities prompted the threat of a tougher crackdown in a seventh week of demonstrations sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by the morality police for attire deemed inappropriate.
“Security is the red line of the Islamic Republic, and we will not allow the enemy to implement in any way its plans to undermine this valuable national asset,” hardline President Ebrahim Raisi said, according to state media.
Iranians from all walks of life have taken to the streets since Amini's death in protests that the clerical rulers said were endangering the Islamic Republic's security.
Authorities have accused Islamic Iran's arch-enemies the United States and Israel and their local agents of being behind the unrest to destabilize the country.
What began as outrage over Amini's death on Sept. 16 has evolved into one of the toughest challenges to clerical rulers since the 1979 revolution, with some protesters calling for the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards told protesters that Saturday would be their last day of taking to the streets, the harshest warning yet by Iranian authorities.
Nevertheless, videos on social media, unverifiable by Reuters, showed confrontations between students and riot police and Basij forces on Sunday at universities all over Iran.
One video showed a member of Basij forces firing a gun at close range at students protesting at a branch of Azad University in Tehran. Gunshots were also heard in a video shared by rights group HENGAW from protests at the University of Kurdistan in Sanandaj.
Videos from universities in some other cities also showed Basij forces opening fire at students.
Across the country, security forces tried to block students inside university buildings, firing tear gas and beating protesters with sticks. The students, who appeared to be unarmed, pushed back, with some chanting “dishonoured Basij get lost” and “Death to Khamenei”.
History of crackdowns
Social media reported arrests of at least a dozen doctors, journalists and artists since Saturday. The activist HRANA news agency said 283 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Saturday including 44 minors. Some 34 members of the security forces were also killed.
More than 14,000 people have been arrested, including 253 students, in protests in 132 cities and towns, and 122 universities, it said.
The Guards and its affiliated Basij force have crushed dissent in the past. They said on Sunday, “seditionists” were insulting them at universities and in the streets, and warned they may use more force if the anti-government unrest continued.
“So far, Basijis have shown restraint and they have been patient,” the head of the Revolutionary Guards in the Khorasan Junubi province, Brigadier General Mohammadreza Mahdavi, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
“But it will get out of our control if the situation continues.”
Journalists appeal
More than 300 Iranian journalists demanded the release of two colleagues jailed for their coverage of Amini in a statement published by the Iranian Etemad and other newspapers on Sunday.
Niloofar Hamedi took a photo of Amini's parents hugging each other in a Tehran hospital where their daughter was lying in a coma.
The image, which Hamedi posted on Twitter, was the first signal to the world that all was not well with Amini, who had been detained three days earlier by Iran's morality police for what they deemed inappropriate dress.
Elaheh Mohammadi covered Amini's funeral in her Kurdish hometown Saqez, where the protests began. A joint statement released by Iran’s intelligence ministry and the intelligence organisation of the Revolutionary Guards on Friday had accused Hamedi and Mohammadi of being CIA foreign agents.
Students and women have played a prominent role in the unrest, burning their veils as crowds call for the fall of the Islamic Republic, which came to power in 1979.
An official said on Sunday the establishment had no plan to retreat from compulsory veiling but should be “wise” about enforcement.
“Removing the veil is against our law and this headquarters will not retreat from its position,” Ali Khanmohammadi, the spokesman of Iran’s headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice told the Khabaronline website.
“However, our actions should be wise to avoid giving enemies a pretext to use it against us.”
In a further apparent effort to defuse the situation, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said people were right to call for reform and their demands would be met if they distanced themselves from the “criminals” taking to the streets.
“We consider the protests to be not only correct and the cause of progress, but we also believe that these social movements will change policies and decisions, provided that they are separated from violent people, criminals and separatists,” he said, using terms officials typically use for the protesters.
Read more:
Demonstrators in Iran’s Zahedan chant ‘death to Khamenei’ as protests persist
Iran charges 300 in Tehran protests, four could face death penalty
Two killed after police open fire at demonstrators in Iran’s Zahedan: Activists
More clashes at Iran's universities after weeks of unrest
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
30 October, 2022
Students in Iran clashed during a memorial ceremony for the victims of a deadly attack at a Shia holy site earlier this week
The nationwide unrest has rocked the Islamic Republic for a month and a half [Getty/archive]
Students clashed during a memorial ceremony for the victims of a deadly attack at a major Shia holy site in southern Iran, the country's semi-official news outlet said Sunday.
The Tasnim news agency reported that some groups attacked a gathering in a branch of Azad University in Tehran. Several students were injured, it said, quoting witnesses as saying some students had knives in their hands. Tasnim also said an unidentified person fired tear gas during the clash and then disappeared into the crowd. The report did not elaborate on how many people were injured in the clash.
On Sunday, hardline students in several universities across the country gathered to commemorate a deadly attack by a gunman who killed 13 people, including women and children, at Shah Cheragh mosque Wednesday. Thirty people were wounded.
The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the shooting.
The nationwide unrest — sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police — has rocked the Islamic Republic for a month and a half. Amini died after being detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code for women.
The Iranian government has repeatedly alleged that foreign powers have orchestrated the protests, without providing evidence. The protests have become one of the most serious threats to Iran’s ruling clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The protests first focused on the state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women but quickly grew into calls for the downfall of Iran’s theocracy itself. At least 270 people have been killed and 14,000 have been arrested in the protests that have swept over 125 Iranian cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran.
Since October 24, the country’s authorities started hearing the cases of at least 900 protesters charged with "corruption on earth" — a term often used to describe attempts to overthrow the Iranian government that carries the death penalty. Judicial officials have announced charges against hundreds of people in Tehran and other provinces as they seek to quash dissent.
Students in Iran clashed during a memorial ceremony for the victims of a deadly attack at a Shia holy site earlier this week
The nationwide unrest has rocked the Islamic Republic for a month and a half [Getty/archive]
Students clashed during a memorial ceremony for the victims of a deadly attack at a major Shia holy site in southern Iran, the country's semi-official news outlet said Sunday.
The Tasnim news agency reported that some groups attacked a gathering in a branch of Azad University in Tehran. Several students were injured, it said, quoting witnesses as saying some students had knives in their hands. Tasnim also said an unidentified person fired tear gas during the clash and then disappeared into the crowd. The report did not elaborate on how many people were injured in the clash.
On Sunday, hardline students in several universities across the country gathered to commemorate a deadly attack by a gunman who killed 13 people, including women and children, at Shah Cheragh mosque Wednesday. Thirty people were wounded.
The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the shooting.
The nationwide unrest — sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the country’s morality police — has rocked the Islamic Republic for a month and a half. Amini died after being detained for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code for women.
The Iranian government has repeatedly alleged that foreign powers have orchestrated the protests, without providing evidence. The protests have become one of the most serious threats to Iran’s ruling clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The protests first focused on the state-mandated hijab, or headscarf, for women but quickly grew into calls for the downfall of Iran’s theocracy itself. At least 270 people have been killed and 14,000 have been arrested in the protests that have swept over 125 Iranian cities, according to the group Human Rights Activists in Iran.
Since October 24, the country’s authorities started hearing the cases of at least 900 protesters charged with "corruption on earth" — a term often used to describe attempts to overthrow the Iranian government that carries the death penalty. Judicial officials have announced charges against hundreds of people in Tehran and other provinces as they seek to quash dissent.
Iran: Uprising Expands As Regime Launches More Campus Crackdowns – OpEd
Iran’s nationwide uprising marks its 45th day on Sunday after escalating protests in many cities across the country, especially as college students took to the streets in large numbers on Saturday. Following the onslaught against Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology earlier this month, regime authorities deployed their forces into two campuses in the capital and the city of Mashhad where anti-regime dissent has been escalating.
Protests in Iran have to this day expanded to at least 203 cities. Over 450 people have been killed and more than 25,000 are arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 294 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.
Sunday’s protests began with another wave of student demonstrations across the country. Protests were reported in Tehran, Babolsar, Zanjan, Shiraz, Sanandaj, Mashhad, and Qazvin. At the same time primary and high school students held demonstrations in streets in several cities. These demonstrations took place despite warnings issued by Hossein Salami, the top commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), on Saturday. In several locations, security forces attacked the students but were met with fierce resistance.
Clashes continued between security forces and students. More footage and reports from Tehran indicate security forces are directly firing at students with firearms. In Sanandaj, clashes were reported in at least three universities, including Kurdistan University and Yazdanpanah University. Reports indicate security forces are using live ammunition against students.
Nightly protests were held in several cities on Sunday, including Mahabad, Bukan, Kerman, Sanandaj, and Ravansar. In several cities, protesters lit fire and prevented security forces from taking control of the streets. Clashes continued between protesters and security forces across Iran as the people refused to yield to the regime’s repression. In Tehran, families of Azad University students gathered at the campus, where the students have been stranded and surrounded by security forces.
On Saturday, cities in Iran’s Kurdish regions continued their relentless protests with locals taking to the streets in the cities of Sanandaj, Saqqez, Mahabad, Bukan, Baneh, and others. People throughout the country are chanting various slogans, some specifically calling for regime change in Iran by the people of Iran. “Death to the dictator!” and “Death to Khamenei!” referring to regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and “Death to the oppressor! Be it the Shah or [Khamenei]!”
Despite Saturday’s massive crackdown measures on various college campuses, there are already reports on Sunday indicating university students in Tehran, Sanandaj, Mashhad, Shiraz, Babolsar, Chabahar, Hamadan, and Zanjan are continuing to protest the mullahs’ regime and refusing to backdown. In Saqqez, authorities are attacking high school students and a number of them have been abducted by plainclothes agents, according to local activists.
Saturday’s protests began with student rallies in universities across Iran. Protest rallies were reported in Tehran, Ahvaz, Kerman, Babol, Lorestan, Kermanshah, and Qods City. Across Iran, students called for the ouster of the mullahs, chanting anti-regime slogans such as “Death to the dictator!” “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”
Student demonstrations continue across Iran despite the repressive measures by the regime. In the previous night, security forces stormed dormitories in different cities and violently arrested students to intimidate them and prevent future protests. But the students returned to the streets on Saturday.
On Saturday, there were numerous reports of security forces attacking students. At Tehran University, Basij forces attacked and assaulted students, but the protesters resisted and continued their rallies. In Sanandaj, Basij forces attacked students at the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. And in Mashhad, security forces attacked students at Azad University.
Also on Saturday, there was a large rally at Arak as locals gathered for the funeral of Mehrshad Shahidi, a 19-year-old youth who was killed by security forces in recent days. The funeral quickly turned into an anti-regime rally, with protesters shouting slogans against Khamenei and the mullahs’ rule. Security forces attacked the rally and tried to disperse the protesters by opening fire on the protesters but were met with fierce resistance.
Protests continued late into the night on Saturday despite the heavy presence of security forces in major cities. Reports of protests came from Ahvaz, Yazd, Piranshahr, Borujerd, Lasht-e Nesha, Bukan, Bandar Abbas, and Astara.
The situation is especially tense in Mashhad, where security forces have surrounded Azad University since the evening and are cracking down on students. Videos show security forces violently beating and arresting students. There are also reports of clashes between protesters and security forces in Astara, Yazd, and Lasht-e Nesha. Protesters have put up fierce resistance despite facing heavily armed repressive forces.
Iranian opposition NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi praised the brave stance of Iran’s college students, especially in the restive cities of Tehran and Mashhad. “IRGC troops and special guards have surrounded the School of Technology in Amirabad, Tehran, and Azad University of Mashhad. I urge the brave youths and people of Tehran and Mashhad to rush to their aid and break the blockade. Nothing is more powerful than people’s unity and fighting spirit,” the NCRI President-elect emphasized.
The protests in Iran began following the death of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the city of Saqqez in Kurdistan Province, western Iran, who traveled to Tehran with her family, was arrested on Tuesday, September 13, at the entry of Haqqani Highway by the regime’s so-called “Guidance Patrol” and transferred to the “Moral Security” agency.
She was brutally beaten by the morality police and died of her wounds in a Tehran hospital on September 16. The event triggered protests that quickly spread across Iran and rekindled the people’s desire to overthrow the regime.
Mahmoud Hakamian writes for PMOI/MEK, where this article was published.
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